Last Thursday's Algerian parliamentary poll failed to jolt the entrenched ruling FLN, in power since 1962, writes Gamal Nkrumah "Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it, in relative opacity" -- Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Algeria's Islamists were hoping for a break with the herd instinct among the country's electorate, and especially its youth. Yet far from transforming the fortunes of the Islamists, last week's elections entrenched the political stranglehold of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN). Algerian voters, it appeared were betting on the political potential of the ruling party to weather the vagaries of the Arab Spring. The FLN garnered a staggering 220 seats, an increase of 84 from the last parliament in last Thursday's 10 May legislative elections in Algeria. The FLN is officially a socialist-cum- Algerian nationalist party. The true extent and costs of FLN corruption are unknowable. That it is a serious problem, however, is indisputable among Algeria's youthful population -- the under 35s -- who constitute no less than 70 per cent of the 35 million Algerians. When signs of widespread disaffection began to surface last year, many suspected that the FLN would fare badly in the general election. They also reckoned that the turnout would be exceptionally low. To the surprise of many Algerians, they were wrong on both counts. The FLN is to make considerable capital out of its landslide victory. Minister of Culture Khalida Toumi is tipped to head the ruling party, but not necessarily as a successor to Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika. Toumi's triumphant rise to the top of the ruling party hierarchy would set a precedent with yet another Algerian woman heading a political party. Nevertheless, despite Toumi's qualifications, her ability to make tough decisions -- projecting secularist cultural policies in an increasingly conservative religious environment that thwarts creativity -- and a laser-like focus on top priority concerns such as education, an analysis of her record augurs ill. It does not suggest she will necessarily be better placed to tackle the economy than her predecessors. Indeed, the fragile state of the Algerian economy was uppermost in the minds of the voters. Against this backdrop, 44 political parties contested the Algerian legislative elections. The parties were competing for 462 seats across the sprawling country -- Africa's largest. The Algerian electorate appears unhappy with the performance of the Islamists, especially since many joined forces with the FLN-dominated government. Since forming coalition governments with the ruling party, the popularity of Islamists and their credibility as a serious political alternative to the FLN has been called into question. This may explain why Islamists, in particular, performed so poorly in the parliamentary poll. The National Rally for Democracy (RND) headed by Ahmed Ouyahia secured 68 seats, representing an increase of seven from the last parliament. Again, its success reflects the fact that the jobless youth by and large boycotted the election while older voters more loyal to the FLN and the RND remained faithful to the old tested ways of the Algerian political establishment. Louisa Hanoune, leader of the Labour Party, questioned the proliferation of political parties in the parliamentary poll. "Who funds these new parties?" she demanded to know. Hanoune's Labour Party is vociferous in its advocacy of making Tamazight, the language of the Amazigh, or indigenous North African population, a second official language. At the moment, Arabic is the official language even though French is widely used in education, cultural, legal and government circles. The Labour Party also lobbies strongly for the elimination of the Algerian Family Code that includes elements of Islamic Sharia laws that are condemned by secularists and feminists across the country. The current Algerian laws, particularly where it concerns familial relations, are applicable to Arab Algeria and not to the exclusively Kabaylia region inhabited by the indigenous non-Arab Amazigh peoples. Three Algerian Islamist parties sealed a merger pact for electoral purposes as a convenient yardstick to unite Islamists. The Islamists parties in Algeria have their roots in the original Islamist group, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). The FLN's hard-nosed style in its fight against the FIS and its successor organisations ruffled feathers. Opposition political parties warned that the voting was rigged and sounded the alarm bells, claiming widespread fraud. The Algerian government invited electoral monitors from the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union to supervise the electoral process. "The elections mark an important first stage of reform," the EU observer mission's statement read. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the Algerian electoral process as a "welcome step" towards political reform. Foreign applause failed to impress Algerian Islamists and leftists alike. The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon's magnum opus, is to this day considered a manual for liberation throughout Africa and for former colonial people of colour throughout the world. The introduction to this masterpiece was written by Jean-Paul Sartre and was considered controversial because of his open advocacy of revolutionary violence. Born in Martinique, the French Caribbean, Fanon became a member of the FLN and a naturalised Algerian citizen. A psychiatrist by training, Fanon theorised about the psyche of colonised nations. Decolonisation became a byword for revolution. The existential humanist Marxist represented a phase in Algerian history that cannot be blotched out. It is, however, hard to motivate people and get them excited about the electoral process when the economy is the primary concern. Algeria needs to tackle its prickly economic and social issues head-on, but that looks increasingly naïve. A string of corruption scandals discredited the government but disgruntled elements simply boycotted the election instead of voting against the FLN. The present Algerian leadership is not shedding any tears. The FLN has been in power since Algeria gained independence from France in 1962 after an especially ensanguined liberation struggle. Vested interests within the ruling party and the military will try to frustrate the reform agenda at every level. These are deep-rooted problems that necessitate comprehensive solutions. The solutions proposed by the FLN, however, are all incompatible with the demands of political reform and the weakened public's trust in the ruling party. Algeria's political establishment understands that the top priority is job creation. It has specific tasks to accomplish in order to reduce unemployment significantly. The first is increasing social welfare benefits, improving healthcare and education. However, the dominance in the Algerian economy of state owned enterprises is regarded as an impediment to economic growth and job creation by opposition Islamist forces. Algeria's private sector and its family enterprises are stifled under the command economy and the peculiar form of state capitalism of the North African economy. Meanwhile, the left demands social justice. The Islamists, too, claim to demand social justice. But foreign entrepreneurs will object. So too will the entrenched business interests of officials in the FLN. How to please everyone is the real concern. That will be the most difficult task of all.
