1991 Republic of Algeria Legislative Election

1991 Republic of Algeria Legislative Election
The election for the new National Assembly was the first legislative election with suffrage regardless of race and gender. The requirements for voting were that one be a citizen, at least 16 at time of election, and not be a convicted criminal (a rule which would be reformed the next year). The election was scheduled by the Tunis Treaty of 1985, ending the system of Aparté, which had been in place since Algeria's formal declaration independence from France in 1969.

The Parties
In total, seven parties were registered to run in the election. The largest was the Algerian National Liberation Forces - Political Division. While the ANLF (the successor to the FLN) was unwilling to fully demilitarize, the party creating it's Political Division as an organization to manage the running and financing of election campaigns. The PD's promises were for a broad development program, meaning heavy investment in roads, the construction of highways, and direct financing for local Algerian manufacturing businesses. In terms of social issues, they supported creating a public healthcare system, welfare for those in poverty (64% of the population). On issues of race, the group had been hardline, desiring to expel the French minority, now 21% of the population, and only going down. Nonetheless, after the end of the Algeria Continuation War in 1985, most of the party moderated to reconciliation. A few hardliners left for different parties like the IFF or People's Party. Nonetheless, the party was clear in it's desire to investigate, detain, and try war-criminals in court. It also supported affirmative action and a land and business redistribution program with partial compensation. These policies were too moderate for many, but most of the country found them hopeful. The party was essentially guaranteed victory, as it had a strong base of support and an easily mobilized campaign infrastructure based on former militants as well as youth message runners and operatives. The party's base of support was in the north, centralized in Arab urban areas and townships. It's leader was former FNLA general and newly elected president Mahmud Jasir. The second largest party was the IFF or the Islam Forward Front of Algeria. The party was formed from a mix of religious groups and clerics, southern Bedouin tribes, unofficial village councils, Islamist resistance organizations, and ANLF dissidents. While having a firm grip upon the south, the party struggled in the north, with activists there being assaulted at times by FNLA supporters. The party supported expelling all ethnic French civilians who were found to have supported crimes against Algerians. The party's economic policy was almost identical to the ANLF-PD's, with the exception of a more forceful redistribution plan, with no compensation for original owners. The party did not explicitly support the creation of an Islamic Republic, but many of its members and leaders did. Another important difference between it and the FLNA-PD was that it was overtly against reconciliation, with its National Director Muhammad Wikir-Zakim (a Bedouin leader) using violently anti-French and anti-Western language. The New Democratic Alliance was formed as the successor to the Aparté era Parti Démocrate Populaire, an pro-civil rights political party. While out of parliament at the time of the 1991 election, the party hoped to make a comeback as the home for reconciliation minded moderates on both sides. The party attracted support from much of the French and some of the Arab middle classes. They generally ran a low budget, low activity campaign, focusing on media strategy and small gatherings and discussion forums. While the party was for the prosecution of war criminals, it mainly focused on reconciliation from a French viewpoint, in other words in a manner that was calm and relaxed. The party's slogan going into the election was "New Democracy, New Normal" or Nouvelle Démocratie, Nouvelle Normalité". This led to many accusations that the party was vapid and uncommitted. Midway through the campaign controversy struck when, in an interview, candidate number 4 on the NDA list, Marion Grenbeu described race as "irrelevant", which was seen as denying the clear tensions and difference between French and Arab-Algerians. The party's leader was Jean-Pierre Gallier, a college professor and anti-Aparté activist. Most of the party's members and list were French. The People's Party of Algeria was a social-democratic party, their support come from numerous different non-FNLA aligned trade unions. While the party's supporters were harassed by FNLA activists, these incidents stopped shortly after the election campaign began, due to the centralized neighborhood support of the APP. This led to incidents in which FNLA activists were attacked while agitating against the APP. The party launched a campaign of neighborhood rallies, using local networks to mobilize their campaign. Their leader, Pazin Gorkevo, was the son of a Russian emigre mother and a Arab father. His family was working class. While he was anti-Aparté, his main focus was trade unionism. Despite this he was considered charismatic and reliable. The Parti de la Liberté was founded in 1986 as a split off from the then ruling Fraternite Nationale. The party initially was a single issue party, focusing on continuing Aparté. This legacy made their continued existence as a party uncomfortable for many, including many of its supporters, who felt the party should rebrand. Despite this, the party's post-Aparté leader, longtime politician Pierre Lucel, refused. The party naturally had a niche group of voters, leading to a very consistent base of support in homogeneous French towns, cities, and neighborhoods. The party was desperately lacking funds, and as such held public meetings and rallies in their campaign. The party was accused of being insular, and not interacting with the wider political system. The party also faced issues over what it stood for. It presented itself as a special-interests party for the French population. They opposed the prosecution of those deemed war-criminals, was against any land or property redistribution. Despite this, the party did support a mild form of affirmative action. While this was not officially a part of the party's platform, many members and politicians of the party were supportive of the autonomy and even independence of the French areas of Algeria.