Observers of the political scene in Algeria are convinced that things are moving there. Echoes of Algeria no longer have the bitter taste of a series of tragic dramas. After more than seven years of violence with the official number of casualties rising above 100 000, and with more than a million victims, will Algeria find the path of peace? Peace seems to be the key word in the political approach initiated by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria. Three months after being elected, the ex-minister of foreign affairs, now President, has taken the political class by surprise by prioritizing the crucial question of security management. His intention of pardoning members of armed groups who are not involved in crimes such as murder, rape, or bomb explosions in public spaces, has been made public. This "project of civil harmony" recommends lenient legal measures towards those belonging to networks of armed groups who have surrendered themselves to the authorities. The extremists will be pursued by law and tried in courts of law.

Ever since this announcement, the political context has known a different dynamics. The most fierce oppositions to the "project of civil harmony" have given place to a feeling of tolerance but not of forgetfulness. The Parliament has approved it with a strong majority, and a referendum will be organized in the next session (september 1999) in order to have a wider consensus.

The dark decade that kept Algeria in a precarious situation close to a collapse is now leading Algeria towards recovery. At Algiers, there are rumors of a possibility of the emergency being lifted, of the liberation of political prisoners, of the return of international airlines, of suppression of visas... These hopes show that Algerians wish to get back to a normal life.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is faced with the challenge of trying to reconcile Algerians, to recognize the rights of victims of terrorism, to ascertain the crime of those involved in assassinations, to be more lenient towards those who have chosen the path of violence without actually being involved in it, to rehabilitate the forgotten memory of those who were banished from the official history, to put an end to Algeria’s isolation by carving out a place it deserves at the regional and international level, to give hope to the youth...

It is within this particular context rich in events that Algeria held the 35th Summit of African countries of the OUA. Forty-two heads of African states and important personalities came to Algiers to discuss political perspectives of the African continent. It is an important and significant moment for Algeria that is striving to find a new political and diplomatic current. And it does not stop there. The political scene will witness other upheavals such as the change of the present government that will be open to other political formations. Special attention will be directed towards changes that will give Algerians the right to believe that everything is possible...

Nassira SALEM (Algeria)

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1999, a year unlike others. Is Algeria changing its face? Peace, Islam, Islamism, consensus, harmony... are no longer taboo; citizens and citizens’ organizations can freely debate without risking social reprobation, without the fear of being suspected as partisans of fundamentalism, terrorism or anti-democracy. Theories on eradication have become obsolete. The cadaverous Algeria, the profound Algeria, tossed about, driven away from its country side, from its mountains, from its villages, the precarious Algeria that surrounds the big cities of the coast or high plateaus; the Algeria of the youth, of the unemployed... wants to turn the page. For the Algeria concerned with the economic situation, degradation of conditions of life, under-employment, environment… the "project of civil harmony" revives interest in politics and gives hope to each and everyone for peace found once again, a peace that is much needed to build its future.

The other Algeria must also be taken into account: the Algeria that is worried, and mistrusts this law to be assimilated in a process of rehabilitation of totalitarian parties and reintegration of criminals in society. The Algeria that doubts efficiency and legal guaranties, and fears a new wave of violence brought about by feelings of vengeance and retaliation. The Algeria that rejects consensus and demands eradication.

The conflict has lasted too long. More will be too much! There is every indication of a clear regression in the country (it has regressed by 30 years). Nothing was spared. Economy, education, training, health and environment now need profound reforms.

Then, there is the Algeria that expects, the Algeria of the youth (75% of the population), of the ‘economically weak’ (50% of the population below the poverty line), of the unemployed (30% of unemployed), of those who have been denied education and training (pass percentage less than 26% at the level of baccalaureat in 1999); the Algeria which needs capital (net flow of private capital in 1997 amounts to minus $543 million) and must attract investors; the Algeria that carries the burden of debt ($31 billion).

The plural, authentic and generous Algeria is moving away from outbidding and political manipulations. For this Algeria, the choice is made, the law on civil harmony is an opening which will engage a building process of peace.

After a long gestation period (since 1988), the new society is being set up. It was made up in pain and precariousness, and wants to free itself from its earlier contradictions in order to take destiny in its own hands. It has a new culture, an intermingling of diverse heritages of civilization, local traditions and modernity with the backdrop of globalization. It is a society without complexes and which is more open to intercultural dialogue and exchange.

This is the Algeria of the IIIrd millenium. The Algeria far from a single philosophy and totalitarianism. She surprises and disturbs those who are nostalgic about the changed epoch, she does not ask for assistantship but partnership. She needs to be reassured about the ability to face the double challenge of reconstructing a society that has been profoundly shaken up by numerous crisis across the country and by its entry into a world of globalization. But Algeria’s assets are its youth, energy, self-confidence, thirst for democracy and well being.

This new scenario will certainly be created with more help from the civil society and citizenry than from the state. Reconstruction needs to multiply (at all levels) and consolidate frameworks of partnership and concerted action. This can be done through associative movements, and they must evolve in order to play their role in mobilizing and investing energies.

Mounir Bencharif (Algeria)

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One can no longer count the number of new generation contestants of a country that is searching for its identity, a country that is fleeing the dark decade.

Algiers climbs on the side of the mountain under the temperate heat of the Mediterannean. She clings, spreads and curls up to its millenial revolt. The breeze brings new airs of dispute: the Rap revolt. In 1993, two groups strived to express their stagnation in dialectal prose. They question injustices that have been incubating since many decades, unemployment and the youth’s weariness of life. These groups are Hamma boys (comes from the name of a working district which was destroyed to build a luxury hotel) and Intik (means "all is well" in popular language). It was only in 1998 that their albums were released. Be it in the heart of the capital or in the suburbs, the malaise of the youth is quite the same, it only increases with age. When Hamma hums: "We live in a world of loonies used to the bang. The bang of shooting guns"; Intik sings "As if the misery of unemployment is not enough, there is corruption and sabotage as well". These groups were soon taken over by others. MBS (microphone breaks silence), SOS, TWO pass... There are ten, twenty or thirty groups. Each neighbourhood has its share. There are even two women groups of Rap: The Messengers and MLG (Moon Light Girls). They feel that the life of misery is also reserved for women. Algeria abounds with these groups and at Oran, the group called VIX-IT was born in the heart of the university, in the capital of Rai. Their songs – "Where is Algeria heading?", "the morale is zero", "hip hop dwellers of Oran" - have not yet found their way to recording studios. At Annaba, Double Kanon emerged in the world of Rap with two superb albums. "The most dangerous group of Algerian Rap" says the cover of the second album.

While VIX-IT’ words advocate the art of the verb that has been worked upon and chiselled, Double Kanon brutally bludgeons crude verbs that are styled musically. A poetry without detour, some burning questions, Rap is an ever growing speedy phenomenon which is difficult to follow. It is a forced means of communication, a brutal declaration. Cities do not sleep very long, the rage cannot be appeased forever.

Latéfa Lafer (Librarian, Algiers)

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Today was marked by two events. I attended the premiere of a video film projection and I took a taxi to reach home. You would say there’s nothing more ordinary than these two events. Perhaps not, because had it not been for chance, I would have missed these events or overlooked the details that actually make history. I have not been to a cinema hall since many years given my involvement with various activities. If the film was not made by a friend and ex-colleague of the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumedienne of Algiers, I would certainly not have left my activities to watch this film that traces the history of a strike. I felt reassured right from the very beginning. Abder had found the right tone and image, and suceeded a rare feat by communicating all the sensitivity and historical value of the event. The initial stuttering images of a camera that trembles, the opening stinging words and the hesitant sentences of a shy orator gradually evolved towards mastery and firmness.

While presenting the film, Farid explained that these "technical faults" were due to difficult conditions of shooting and the quality of material. He spoke of images shot in the urgency of a socioprofessional struggle, still fragile, and of an autonomous union (the National Council for Teachers) still lacking self-assurance and mistrusted... Time flows, images strengthen and the camera becomes more sure of itself. We feel the deftness of the director – the movement can vouch for that. No more apprehension, no more doubt, the strike is well anchored and Abder who is well planted with his VHS takes us into the situation of the strike. Images become strength, words find the right tone and reproduce the emotion of the long months of strike that marks the nacent and eventful history of an autonomous union.

His video film shot with paltry means projected in a small hall of the cinematheque of Algiers, makes us think about the long, difficult and painful struggle since 10 years by anonymous citizens, for freedom and right to expression. We often doubt, and perhaps wrongly judge the values of victories snatched cruelly. This document has two merits: it witnesses the democratic transition, now well anchored, and the slow but unrelenting consolidation of civil society’s movements through through the history of a strike.

The second event – taking a taxi to reach home – is even more banal. The taxi driver hails from Kabylia. During the week he works at Algiers and joins his family for the week-end at Djudjura, a village near Tizi Ouzou. The discussion soon centres around the progress of the latest elections. In Kabylia, the dominant party called the RCD had imposed a boycott. At four in the afternoon, our driver arrives at the polling station. The officials are surprised to see one of their dear and honorable citizens. They first think it is a friendly visit and frown giving a stern look when the driver expresses his wish to vote. Some think it is a joke. He insists and consequently faces intimidations and threats. Pushing this way through this sensitive place, he casts his vote in the urn before all those who are present. A simple and ordinary gesture, a gesture without any effect… Perhaps not. Our friend breaks traditions and taboos, braves the modus vivendi of the party and asserts his citizenship. He is proud of it, even it means risking being driven out of the village.

Two instances and two complementary situations illustrate the unconscious struggle that each individual leads for the triumph of freedom, for the assertion of civil society and the citizen. In the first case, a socioprofessional group engaged in a struggle for the recognition of its rights confronts the stupidity of an outdone administration stuck to its privileges and the monopoly of power; in the second instance, the symbolic gesture of a citizen who faces partisan absurdity and cultural inertia to express his individual choice.

Our struggle is not useless. One day, two events sweep away doubt and discouragement and renew hope. It was after all not an ordinary day!!!

Mounir Bencharif (Algiers, May 25, 1999)

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