Bouteflika reaffirms commitment to national reconciliation

08/07/2008

In an address to the country's military on Saturday, Algerian President Bouteflika reiterated his commitment to national reconciliation. Analysts give their input on the significance of the speech.

By Achira Mammeri for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/07/08

[Achira Mammeri] In a widely televised address, President Bouteflika told a military audience last week that the doors of national reconciliation remain open.

Addressing Algeria's military institutions on Saturday (July 5th), on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of independence, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika insisted that his national reconciliation policy is still active. Despite the voices of critics and the expiration of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, the doors of forgiveness remain open to terrorists and misguided youths, he said.

"The current situation requires the process of national reconciliation to remain firmly established. We shall not go back on the implementation of this process since it was adopted with the blessing of the Almighty and with the unfailing support of the people," Bouteflika told his audience and viewers throughout the country.

Without naming names, the president denounced "the sceptical and obstinate voices which have been raised and the short-sighted extremist souls who want to put obstacles in the way of a project whose primordial aim was to extinguish the fire of fitna."

The message comes at a time when an increase in violent acts has been claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Initially limited to six months, and due to end in August 2006, Bouteflika said that the opportunity to repent would remain open until the end of the security crisis.

"I call on the misguided youth to keep their faith in God and return to the straight and narrow within their families and their homeland. I call on them to play their part in building their country."

The president was careful to insist that the national reconciliation process does not mean that the armed fight against terrorism will be scaled down. "The State will not hesitate to deal with the remnants of criminality and terrorism with force and determination," he said.

Bouteflika's speech received mixed reviews from analysts and the public.

Political analyst Abdelali Rezagui said that in addressing Algeria's military institutions, Bouteflika was calling on the army to support his embattled plan to bring about national reconciliation.

Bouteflika was talking to two parties, Rezagui said. "The first is within the administration, represented by the army; the second is misdirected youths or terrorists, whom he wants to reassure that the doors of forgiveness will remain open despite that fact that the deadline set out in the charter for peace has expired."

Ahmed Ouyahia's recent return to the position of prime minister may also have been a factor in Bouteflika's decision to give the speech. "The president wanted to say that the return of this man, known to be an indomitable eradicator, will not encroach upon the national reconciliation project," the analyst added.

Ouyahia declared in late June that "death awaits terrorists who refuse to lay down their weapons."

Another political analyst and editorial writer, Karim Mohsein, told Magharebia that the president's speech confirms that "national reconciliation is not moving as fast as they would like."

"The public would have liked to hear an assessment of how the project is going, instead of seeing the deadline for repentance extended once more," Mohsein said.