Abstract

Liberté (31/8) reported that round 60 parties will vie for the 1,541 communal and 48 municipal assemblies in elections to be held on November 23rd.The paper said that local elections attract more participants from political parties and independents, and also more voters than legislative elections, and this time nearly all parties, some of which have never taken part in a poll, such as Ali Benflis’ Talaie El‐Houriat party (Freedoms’ Vanguard) have agreed to participate.Ahmed Adimi, spokesman for Talaie El‐Houriat, said on August 30th, “For us, these elections are not at all significant. We know that, like the previous ones, they will be rigged. However, we are a political party advocating democracy and we can but respect the choice of our activists [to take part].”He also expressed the intention of his party to take advantage of the electoral campaign to make known its political programme, and especially to condemn the practices of the authorities.“Given the current political context, we have no expectations of these elections. Our only interest is to participate in the electoral campaign to condemn and warn against the practices of the authorities including threats and other intimidations that our activists have endured for a long time,” added