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Algeria
Formation of the Second Algerian Republic, 1976-79
The National Charter approved in June 1976 by a countrywide referendum
was the subject of much public and party debate and was the product
of party, trade union, and other public association negotiations.
The new charter was essentially an ideological proclamation reaffirming
the socialist tradition and implicitly ensuring the authoritarian
nature of the regime and state. The FLN received explicit recognition
as a "unique" national front representing the revolutionary heritage
and ideological identification of the Algerian people.
The adoption of the National Charter was quickly followed by
the drafting of a national constitution. The constitution was
a long document of some 199 articles detailing a new political
structure in line with the principles enunciated in the National
Charter. The constitution reestablished a national legislature,
the National People's Assembly (Assemblée Populaire Nationale),
but reasserted the preeminence of the FLN as the single legitimate
party. Articles 23 through 26 of the 1976 constitution recognized
the unique role of the FLN in the historical tradition and political
culture of the Algerian state and confirmed its hegemonic position
in the new political structure. Rather than breaking with the
personalist character of the past ten years, the constitution
reaffirmed the concentration of power in the executive. Boumediene
was named head of state and head of government as president and
prime minister, commander in chief, and minister of national security
and defense, as well as secretary general of the country's single
legal party.
Boumediene enjoyed the unwavering support of the military establishment.
By consolidating authority and institutionalizing the Algerian
political system, he instilled a degree of public confidence in
his regime that Ahmed Ben Bella had been unable to achieve. Boumediene
was reelected to the presidency in 1976 from a single-candidate
ballot.
New elections for the APN were held in February 1977. Although
all candidates were members of the FLN, they represented a variety
of occupations and opinions. The diverse membership of the new
assembly and the high proportion of industrial and agricultural
workers and non-elites were lauded as "the final step in the construction
of a socialist state" that had begun in earnest with the creation
of workers' self-management assemblies at the local level in the
late 1960s.
Boumediene died in December 1978. He left behind a consolidated
national government, an industrializing economy, an extensive
state-centered socialist program, a burgeoning energy export industry,
and an apparently stable political system. He also left a political
vacuum. Algeria's political development in the 1970s was heavily
indebted to Boumediene's personal skills and acumen. The lack
of an obvious successor left the FLN and the APN with a dilemma.
The president of the APN was named interim head of state; he served
until a special congress of the FLN named Colonel Chadli Benjedid
secretary general of the party and candidate for president in
January 1979. His selection was confirmed in a national election
one week later, when 94 percent of those voting supported his
nomination.
Data as of December 1993
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