The effects of Hirak are not a weakening of Algeria
Emanuel Macron. D. R.A contribution by Ferid Racim Chikhi – “Where ignorance cries out with arrogance, silence teaches with elegance” (author unknown). In my previous contributions, I have addressed the issue of the impacts of Hirak as a citizen movement; I put forward the fact that the most apparent impacts have targeted in particular decision-makers occupying positions of sovereignty, while the most structuring will only be assessed a posteriori. They will concern national institutions, both economic and political organizations as well as the attitudes expected from both citizens and governments.
A brief overview
No one can hide the fact that since February 19, 2019, major changes have marked the daily life of the State, the citizen and its leaders. If, at the beginning, these are demonstrations against a fifth mandate of President Bouteflika, it is in reality a ground swell which has "modified" not only the contours but also the foundations of a large part of a system imposed since decades by a comprador bourgeoisie and erected corruption, nepotism, regionalism and mismanagement as an organizational model of the state. The popular masses were impoverished, weakened, manhandled and made vulnerable to the point where a large part of the disillusioned youth found nothing better than to be swallowed up by the sea in return for colossal sums of money, subtracted from who knows who, while "the luckiest" went into exile to countries with high demand for immigration.
The world was watching this ground swell which swept away a President, Prime Ministers, high-ranking officers, ministers, elected officials and many other decision-makers co-opted by the various power clans. Whether in Algeria or internationally, analysts, observers, influencers... have each been in their words, their arguments, their words, some moderate, others more or less incendiary.
Whether they are for a Hirak who interests them by the changes he has brought about against the power in place, because he did as he pleases, or in favor of a malleable peaceful Algeria and forced to thank you, these observers, these analysts, etc. saw only their primary interests. For Algerians, wherever they are, the pretexts are multiple: patriotism, nationalism, sincere or subversive opponents, predators of wealth who serve "foreign partners" more than ordinary mortals among Algerians, these witnesses and other laudators spared no effort, not to call for calm, consultation and dialogue, but to break a long-awaited patriotic momentum. This momentum that wanted to reconcile the simple citizen and the simple responsible.
Internationally, Algeria has a great people
At the international level, the key factors of Algeria's relations with its partners and its adversaries (not the enemies) have been put on hold because of the caution of each other in stating any diagnosis and suggesting solutions. recommendations. Fundamental changes are taking place in the world. New lines of development are being put in place. New areas of partnerships are being built with players. Who perceive industrial and commercial spaces differently than according to the great Western thinkers. These actors agreed to work. With China, Russia, Iran... new paradigms are being put in place with areas of activity where people are ready to emerge from the destitution into which the colonial powers have forced them. Algeria, particularly in the Mediterranean and in Africa, is positioning itself as an essential partner. It was during this break that was used by competent women and men to recharge their batteries and awaken their revolutionary diplomacy. Better still, a few luminaries were called upon to help breathe new life into the economy, industry, agriculture and, of course, initiate high-tech projects. Admittedly, much remains to be said and done about these large-scale projects, but the broad outlines hold water. Unfortunately, once again, information and communication on all these files are in "silence" mode. The vacuum created by this lack of responsiveness on the part of the information sector is occupied by mediums who believe they are in opposition but position themselves in the niches of adversity.
Strategic interests
It is true that often strategic interests are at stake, but let's stay at the level of observers' perception of the changes underway. Almost all the international vis-à-vis have, despite all the contingencies, and with a few exceptions, expressed the same reflection. Here, in North America, I have heard from several diplomats, ministers and other elected officials the following reflection: The Algerians! A great people! Algeria has a great people! I have subsequently, over the thirty months that are ending, taken the measure of this caution in not saying too much. As a result, despite presidential and parliamentary elections, in which many people doubt the integrity of the votes, there are foreign powers convinced that the Algerian power has been weakened, dare to launch attacks that are inappropriate, not to say unacceptable. It is the moment, for example, in France, that uneducated racists and ignorant supremacists have chosen to express their visceral hatred. However, no one can deny that the most negative of these aggressions have been manifested in the West and the North. Fortunately, the redeployment of Algerian diplomacy bypasses all belligerent acts. The consolidation of ties with China, Russia, Turkey, and many other countries, whether African, Asian, American or Mediterranean, is revitalizing not only internationally but also regionally and domestically.
During the Hirak, and even today, it was at the domestic level that opponents put forward cultural and identity claims with relays in the diaspora... they benefit from the obvious support of several agencies affiliated with states. It has also been the turbulent neighbor to the west for several weeks which, with the toxic and harmful help of one of its Mashreq partners, has not curbed its hegemonic tendencies and, of course, claims over part of the Algeria as it struggles with the occupation of Western Sahara and its northern enclaves. It goes without saying that the incursions of this neighbor are multiple (smuggling, drugs, etc.). It is also his lifelong godfather who, at his convenience, arranged his story as well as their common stories to pass himself off as a speaker who had come to "civilize" a people of beggars. However, a common denominator to these "operators" advocates, as if nothing had happened, the division, not to say the disappearance of the Algerian people and their rulers. One can signify one's own agreement for some but not for all. The yetnahaw gaâ must be revisited.
What a President says
At a time when preparations for the France/Africa meeting are going well, the words of the French president have come to "intoxicate" bilateral relations. They have irritated and hurt, not only the Algerian leaders but also the simple citizen who sees himself thus relieved of his memory, of his thousand-year-old history, of his origins. Even if rulers do not often refer to millennial history, this does not prevent the people from having always appropriated it. Nevertheless, the worst lies in the confirmation of this contempt that only French leaders display when they are relegated by those they harass unceremoniously or when they want to solicit the vote of their racist right. It is as if 132 years of occupation were not enough.
In fact, for my part, I never believed that a French president or any of the heads of state would make sweeping declarations without his advisers, his ministers, his cabinet … don't know anything about it. Everything is meticulously organized, refined to the comma and, above all, skillfully orchestrated to be taken up by all mediums.
Even the reactions are anticipated and sensed so that the developments are a confirmation or at least a reformulation of the ideas put forward. In the case that interests us, it must be recognized that the French president, by addressing young French people, is within his rights; however, that he exploits them because they have Algerian ancestry and uses them to serve as a springboard and propellant for his paternalistic and dominating policy towards Algeria, its people, its leaders and in particular its history and its memory can only be described as a controlled skid. This is not to ease the ongoing tensions. In presidential and diplomatic speech, we all know that words are carefully chosen so that the message is heard and properly understood.
"The dust is packed under the rug, but it's still there!"
Memory is put forward in the form of yet another manipulation that prevents future-oriented conciliation. The paradigm that history is always written by the winner has long been rejected.
What is needed is to take in hand the little that has not been eradicated by these winners to plant the seeds of a future that must always bring the parties concerned closer together. But Macron, tells us: “France does not want to learn to leave the past behind to take advantage of what is in front of it.” The effects of several successive crises have not been resolved definitively. We all believed that this young President had at least integrity to stand up to history and rectify the mistakes made yesterday, but that is no longer the case. In Quebec, we say: "The dust is packed under the carpet, but it's still there!" Differences have always existed when dominating and hegemonic countries blow hot and cold, depending on the circumstances. History, the economy, culture, the mode of governance, the powers in place are among these subjects which bring together or, on the contrary, create distances between the protagonists.
The future with a history and memories that bring us together
In this relationship between Algeria and France, the shared history, the vision of Macron who appointed a pied-noir, in this case Benjamin Stora, to draft a work plan capable of bringing the two peoples. This project has just taken a serious blow, and the effects show that the Algerian side was right not to believe too much in it. What President Macron did not understand is that his historian can write "his" history of Algeria but he cannot even suggest writing Algeria's draft work plan. in spite of those who react with their affects and not with the rationality that is required in such circumstances.
The other point which has already been the subject of many assessments lies in the aggravating factor which makes President Macron say that the Algerian nation did not exist before its occupation. This sentence has ruined all the efforts of reconciliation shaped since the beginning of his presidency. However, he is well placed to know that no state existed at a given moment in the history of the world. The names have evolved with the migratory flows of populations in times of peace or in times of war. Consequently, it is provocative to have approached this reflection at a time when appeasement is in order.
In conclusion
Another irritating point in the posture of President Macron is this exchange with young French people and it could have been any of the generational groups. It is his right, and no one disputes it. What is problematic is the evocation of strictly Algerian issues on the grounds that these young people have direct or indirect links with Algeria. There, the prospect of a distancing, not to say a rupture, is put in place. Algeria is even stronger since the earthquake caused by Hirak. There are still aftershocks that may go beyond the southern shore of the Mediterranean.
The French president has widened the gap between France and Algeria. Instead of talking about peaceful rapprochement and the creation of new bridges with these young people, he pushes them to erect walls between them and Algeria. It is neither more nor less than their inopportune instrumentalization.
It was ultimately his ignorance of Algeria's governance mechanisms that led him to believe, perhaps on the advice of his advisers, that the Hirak had weakened the Algerian system and its powers. He will have to revise his intentions, considering that Algeria is united with its people and, vice versa, despite the differences of opinion of many of its citizens, their lucidity and their resistance are still its strength despite the new generation of individuals who have broken the oaths to the fatherland.
F. R.-C.
Senior Analyst, Mediterranean Studies and Research Group/North America (German)
