Local elections held on Thursday, October 10 sparked a fresh wave of confrontation between angry Amazigh protestors and government security forces in the Kabylie region. While a number of Amazigh groups moved to enforce a boycott of the voting in Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia, setting up barricardes and confiscating ballots, one Amazigh political party, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), broke with precedent by putting up its own candidates and denouncing the boycott.
FFS leaders have argued that Imazighen should mobilize and choose their own candidates to fill local government posts, rather than leaving the door open for corrupt officials to control the purse strings. The FFS position has divided the Amazigh community, fracturing the staunch anti-government stance that has garnered nearly universal support since the “Black Spring” of 2001, when at least 117 young protestors were killed in clashes with gendarmes. Other Amazigh political parties called the boycott to protest what they regard as corrupt practices in the central government, and to expose as false its claims that Algeria is a stable, transparent democracy. These groups refuse to implicitly endorse the military-backed government by participating in elections.
Rather than simply staying away from polling stations, many protestors sought to shut them down. Twenty of the FFS’ local offices in Kabylie have been burned down in recent weeks, and polling stations were also the targets of arson attacks this past week. At least five protestors were reported injured, one seriously, by security forces in Tizi Ouzou on Thursday. Demonstrators in Bejaia managed to barricade the main street, cutting off access to riot police, who responded with teargas canisters. Throughout the Kabylie region, Amazigh protestors forced some voting officials to turn over ballot boxes. An official from the Amazigh party Rally for Culture and Democracy accused the authorities of paying certain individuals to inflame the situation by attacking polling stations.
Tensions have been running high in the predominantly Amazigh Kabylie region of northern Algeria for the past eighteen months. The government has maintained a strong security presence, defying a number of demands issued by the Amazigh community in the wake the “Black Spring” violence. Though Imazighen make up at least a fifth of Algeria’s population, they still suffer widespread discrimination and marginalization at the hands of the Arab-led government. They have called for expanded cultural and political rights, including greater recognition of the Tamazight language’s importance in Algerian culture and increased economic opportunity for Imazighen.
Initial reports indicated a relatively strong showing for the FFS, which should control at least 65 municipalities, and probably more once all votes are counted. The success of FFS candidates will no doubt be derided by many radical Imazighen as the election of mere pawns to bolster “le pouvoir” - President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s government, and the business and military elite. Testifying to the substantial impact of the protestors’ actions, however, the Interior Minister reported that voting was disrupted in 20 of the 67 municipalities of the Tizi Ouzou province, and in 19 of 52 municipalities in Bejaia province. A general strike in Kabylie also succeeded in shutting down offices and shops throughout Tizi Ouzou.
