History, war, and peace are again essential in the French presidential election. The memorial question between French and Algerians continues to be revived by candidates for the presidential office.
It is Emmanuel Macron, the current French president, who is the first to use the Franco-Algerian relationship in the presidential campaign. The Head of State, who has certainly not yet officially declared his candidacy, is making timely round trips to France’s colonial past a few months before the ballot.
The non-choice of Emmanuel Macron
The president of all versions of the story. This is how Emmanuel Macron is perceived by part of French opinion, while France and Algeria are preparing to commemorate the Evian agreements next March.
Last week, the French president returned to the massacres of Europeans by the French army in the rue d’Isly (current Rue Larbi Ben M’hidi) in Algiers on March 26, 1962, which left 60 dead.
He described these “massacres” as “unforgivable”. “The French soldiers, deployed against employment, badly commanded, fired on the French” , admitted Emmanuel Macron. For the first time, a French president admitted the responsibility of the French authorities in the abandonment of the black feet.
Emmanuel Macron also asked the Algerian State to recognize the massacres of Europeans in Oran on July 5, 1962, calling on Algeria to “face-up” this episode which resulted in the death of “hundreds of Europeans, mainly French people. A shifted request at a time when Algeria is demanding recognition of crimes committed during French colonization.
This time, the president seems to wink at the black-footed electorate.
Among the many Blackfoot associations, information has been received in different ways. If some French people in Algeria were moved to hear the words “massacre” and “unforgivable” in the mouth of their Head of State, other associations, on the contrary, saw only a speech bottomless and without actions. And especially for many, they do not come to cancel the recognition of colonization as a crime against humanity by Emmanuel Macron in 2017.
While he was only a presidential candidate at the time, he took advantage of a trip to Algiers to admit the horror of colonization. These words, the black feet did not forgive him. As for the Algerians, for them, it was only the beginning of reconciliation and the work of memorial healing is still long.
Since the beginning of his mandate, Emmanuel Macron has tried to redraw the contours of the history between France and Algeria, he has words for all the abuses that France has never wanted to admit, Algerians drowned on October 17 1961, shooting at the French a few days after the Evian agreements in the rue d’Isly.
Refusal of Manichaeism or electoral stake, Emmanuel Macron’s posture is above all perceived as awkward.
Algeria, seen from afar, debated up close
The Algerian-French memory is ultimately only a gateway to position oneself vis-à-vis Algeria. Each presidential election brings out the Algeria map for various issues, as France is linked to this country. Immigration, colonial past, bilateral cooperation. At each French election, all roads lead to Algeria, it does not fail.
One would have thought that for this presidential 2022, Algeria would be a very distant subject. Moreover, we note that this year no candidate has (yet) moved to Algiers, while it was a French tradition.
Previous campaigns involved at least one official presidential trip. Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, or even Emmanuel Macron had made their “candidate” trip to Algiers before being elected.
Even the slightly more outsider profiles crowded at the Algerian gates. We remember Arnaud Montebourg, proud to claim the Algerian origins of his mother. Upstream negotiations with Algeria seemed to be a must for presidential candidates.
This time, no one goes to Algerian lands. Covid-19 is a valid excuse to avoid political travel. So we play the Algerian question at home.
No presidential campaign without Algeria
As soon as the first candidacies were declared, the relationship with Algeria very quickly emerged. Emmanuel Macron was not the only one to take the subject of Algeria head-on, quite the contrary.
Eric Zemmour almost makes it his campaign theme. We no longer count the anti-Algerian measures that the man has promised. His last trip to Algeria dates back only ten days. He promised to exclude French repentance and to negotiate “between men” with the Algerian leaders.
The far-right candidate promised to destroy the last stones of the agreements negotiated between France and Algeria in the aftermath of independence. He wants to put an end to the 1968 agreements, which promote the movement of Algerians to France. Eric Zemmour uses old memorial disagreements to break with today’s Algeria.
Still, on the right, Valérie Pécresse also engulfed herself in the memory question. The opportunity for the candidate to oppose Emmanuel Macron, who according to her “has a problem with history”, since she believes that there has never been a crime against humanity in this common history.
Conversely, on the left, we observe a staging of support for Algeria. Jean-Luc Mélenchon pours out his links with the Maghreb in intimate confidences delivered to the magazine Gala. His grandmother who had left Algeria for Morocco brings him to tears in the columns of the People magazine. She who lived “in osmosis with the Muslims” still arouses his admiration today.
Algeria thus becomes a kind of tennis ball that the candidates throw in the face to win a few votes here and there or to endanger the rival candidates.
Too often cited, Algeria becomes a subject that can reach many communities, whether Franco-Algerians, immigrants, black feet, anti-immigration, or even the fachosphere. So why do without it?
