The new Algeria, proclaimed independent on July 31, 1962, was however born under the sign of strong contrasts between the components of the liberation front: Ben Khedda, appointed head of the provisional government in 1961, was overthrown by an alliance that in 1962 elected Ferḥāt ‘Abbās president of the Republic and Ben Bellā head of the government. In 1963, with referendum approval, the Democratic and People’s Republic of d’A. Was born, with a constitution that established a presidential and one-party regime; Ben Bellā became head of state and commander of the armed forces, while also retaining the office of prime minister. In this first phase, the political-economic support of the USSR and a credit from the World Bank were relevant. The first congress of the FLN (1964) laid, with the Charter of Algiers, the foundations of national socialism, founded on self-management and oriented towards the movement of non-aligned countries and this trend was confirmed by the coup of H. Boumedienne. In 1970 the first four-year plan was launched, centered on nationalization in the oil field (which rekindled tensions with France), education, Arabization and agrarian reform. While the second four-year plan was being implemented, with the reform of the commercial sector and the relaunch of agriculture, the republican constitution of 1976 sanctioned the supremacy of the FLN and of Boumedienne who in the following December was elected president of the Republic. Upon his death (1978), the extraordinary congress of the FLN elected S. Ben Giadīd (1979), who reaffirmed the continuity with his predecessor, but did not centralize power, giving importance to the figure of the prime minister (‘Abd al-Ghanī), and promoted the complete Arabization of the country, as requested by the students. Re-elected president in 1984 and 1988,Front Islamique du Salut) in the administrative elections of 1990, which signaled the emergence of a fundamentalist opposition. The political situation became extremely uncertain after the first round of the political elections (1992), which saw the FIS clearly prevail over the FLN. A Haut comité d’état was then formed, supported by the military and led by M. Būḍyāf (former founder of the FLN and recalled from exile), who formed a provisional government, severely repressed the Islamist movement and proclaimed a state of siege for one year. On the other hand, the AIS (Armée Islamique du Salut), the armed wing of the FIS, and the GIA (Groupe Islamique Armé), the most extremist faction of Algerian fundamentalism, launched a violent terrorist campaign against the regime.
The crisis precipitated with the assassination of Būḍyāf (1992), committed to fighting terrorism and political-financial corruption. In 1994 General L. Zeroual, now retired Minister of Defense, was appointed head of state for a period of 3 years, whose regime, influenced by the military leaders, first sought a dialogue with the Islamists, but later became responsible of numerous violations of human rights. Zeroual was however confirmed in the 1995 presidential elections, held under the threat of violence and attacks, and two years later strengthened his powers thanks to a referendum, boycotted by all the opposition forces (with the exception of the FLN which returned to ally itself with the government). In a situation marked by continuous massacres to the detriment of the population (the terrible toll had reached about 100,000 deaths), but also by the favorable economic situation (rise in the price of oil and redefinition of the payment times of the foreign debt), the elections were held legislative of 1997, which recorded the victory of the president’s party, the Rassemblement national démocratique, the affirmation of the Mouvement de la société pour la paix, an Islamist party founded in 1990, and the defeat of the democratic forces committed to fighting fundamentalist extremism. The sudden resignation of Zeroual (1998), which also had achieved significant successes against the terrorism of the GIA, led to new presidential elections (1999), whose real protagonist seemed once again to be the army, represented by the candidate ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Bouteflika (Bū Taflīqa), formerly Boumedienne’s right hand man, while the other six candidates had withdrawn in protest for the irregularities recorded even before the vote. A few months after his inauguration, Bouteflika launched a peace plan (law on civil harmony) and shortly after he reached an agreement with AIS, however excluding the FIS from the negotiations. A new escalation of terrorism sanctioned the failure of Bouteflika’s attempt at reconciliation, which in 2001 also had to face a strong wave of protests for the lack of socio-economic reforms and the mobilizations of the population of Kabylia, which denounced the repression and lack of recognition of the language and of Berber culture. This recognition was however confirmed, together with other concessions, by President Bouteflika in 2002. In the same year the FLN won the general elections, characterized by low turnout and troubled by new violence and the boycott of a series of parties, two of which represented the Berbers. In 2004, Bouteflika obtained his second presidential term with a landslide victory. For Algeria government and politics, please check a2zgov.com.
During 2005, new agreements were reached between the government and the Berber community and the Charter for National Reconciliation was approved with a referendum, which offered amnesty to rebels in prison, fugitives and fighters still active, excluding those responsible for killings. mass attacks and attacks in public places. Re-elected in During 2005, new agreements were reached between the government and the Berber community and the National Reconciliation Charter was approved in a referendum, offering amnesty to rebels in prison, fugitives and fighters still active, excluding those responsible for killings. mass and attacks in public places. Re-elected in During 2005, new agreements were reached between the government and the Berber community and the National Reconciliation Charter was approved in a referendum, offering amnesty to rebels in prison, fugitives and fighters still active, excluding those responsible for killings. mass attacks and attacks in public places. Re-elected in 2004, Bouteflika led Algeria in the transition from the civil war of the 1990s towards a relative internal pacification and the reestablishment of international relations, both at the cost of a strong censorship of information and independent political movements. In 2009, the politician was re-elected president with 90% of the votes, after the previous year the Parliament had approved an amendment to abolish the limit number for presidential terms. In the legislative consultations held in May 2012, the FLN won 220 seats out of 462, while the Green Alliance of moderate Muslims won only 48 seats; the electoral result, which led to suspicion of heavy fraud, would seem to contradict the loss of support of the ruling party, which also – on wave of uprising movements that had swept the country and other Arab regimes the previous year – was made the subject of bitter popular protests. A decline in consensus was also recorded in the parliamentary elections held in May 2017, in which the FNL nonetheless confirmed itself as the first party, winning 164 seats out of 462, followed with 97 seats by the ally Rassemblement National Democratique (RND). Violent protests erupted in the country in March 2019 against Bouteflika’s reappointment to the presidential elections scheduled for the following month: the politician was forced to retire, postponing consultations and appointing N. Bedoui as the new prime minister of the country, who took over from the resigned Algeria Ouyahia, in office since August 2017. In April 2019, following the request for impeachment made by the army and continuing the popular protests against him, Bouteflika resigned, replacing him ad interim Algeria Bensalah; the presidential elections held in December awarded the first round victory to former premier Algeria Tebboune, which obtained 58.1% of the votes. In the legislative consultations of June 2021 (at which the abstention rate reached 23%), the FNL of President Tebboune – although falling back compared to previous elections – won 105 seats out of 407.
