6-7 minutes
The Algerian power suffered a scathing snub with a record abstention Sunday during the constitutional referendum supposed to found a “new Algeria” and to plebiscite the president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The Yes won with 66.8% of the votes cast, but the final turnout stood at 23.7%, an all-time low for a referendum since independence in 1962. This failure represents a Humiliating disavowal for the initiator of the constitutional revision, President Tebboune, badly elected in December 2019 and currently hospitalized in Germany. It could plunge the regime into a new crisis of legitimacy.
First, the new Constitution did not appeal to Algerians.
“The new version [of the text] did not add much compared to the old Constitution. We are in a situation of reproduction of the regime “, analyzes Cherif Driss, professor of political science at the University of Algiers. This Constitution is only a “facelift, a patching up, but nothing has changed in substance.”
What can we learn from this?
The record abstention confirms the lack of interest shown by Algerians in a one-sided election campaign, without debate, without taking into account the opinions of the opposition. Those who called for a boycott and a vote No had no say in the media.
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic, which is on the rise in Algeria, has not helped matters. Its economic and social effects have heightened popular discontent.
The participation rate enshrines a “massive disavowal” and a “failure of the political process of power”, notes Mr. Driss, noting that less than 15% of voters approved this Constitution.
The new version [of the text] did not add much compared to the old Constitution. We are in a situation of reproduction of the regime. This Constitution is only a “facelift”, a patching up, but nothing has changed in substance.
– Cherif Driss
“This is a further consolidation of the boycott of the ballot box as the only response from citizens. The boycott is now the largest political party in a country lacking a real political and partisan base, ”said Hasni Abidi, director of the Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World in Geneva.
The political power thought to put an end to the “Hirak”, the unprecedented popular uprising born in February 2019 and which calls for a change in the political system in place since independence in 1962. It was obviously wrong.
What will become of the president?
Greatly absent from the poll, President Tebboune, who has made the reform of the Constitution a flagship project, “cornerstone” of the “new Algeria”, is hospitalized in a “large specialized establishment” in Germany after the announcement of the case suspects of coronavirus in his entourage. His condition would be “stable and not worrying”, according to the presidency. But few Algerians doubt that Mr. Tebboune, 74, a heavy smoker, has COVID-19.
The greatest uncertainty reigns over his immediate political future as a result of his hospitalization, amid rumors fueled by official silence on his condition.
It is a further consolidation of the boycott of the ballot boxes as the only response of the citizens. The boycott is now the largest political party in a country lacking a real political and partisan base.
– Hasni Abidi
Will he be able to promulgate the new Constitution, as it is his duty to do, before it comes into force?
In the event that he will resume his functions, the president, isolated, will have to “face a situation which weakens his power”, judges Professor Driss, estimating that with a “Constitution at a discount”, his legitimacy is “very shaky. “. It will depend on the regime’s reaction to this massive and unprecedented rejection at the polls.
Either the Constitution goes by the wayside and the power decides to review its copy, by starting a serious dialogue with the social forces of the country (political parties, unions, independent associations…). “Very unlikely hypothesis”, according to Driss.
Either he persists in imposing his program by validating this Constitution in defiance of the will of the overwhelming majority of Algerians, at the risk of further widening the gap between the population and its leaders.
“The result of the referendum has just widened the gap between the people and the decision-makers of the moment. Denial is no longer a credible option to resolve the central issue of legitimacy in Algeria, ”observes Hasni Abidi.
