Algeria: Soufiane Djilali calls for a “Second Republic” to get out of the political deadlock

Party president Jil Jadid, Soufiane Djilali, believes that Algeria arrived “at the end of a cycle” and calls for the foundation of a “second republic”. In a column published on the site of his party, he draws up a severe assessment of the first Algerian Republic, marked according to him by the failure of the post-independence model, the authoritarian centralization of power and the wear of institutions.

For Soufiane Djilali, the hopes carried by the Hirak have been betrayed, and the current phase is only an “sterile” extension of an “obsolete” and “delegitimized” system. He denounces an extreme concentration of powers around the presidency, the closure of the political and media field, as well as a disturbing decline in national sovereignty, especially in the management of mining resources.

Faced with what he describes as a multidimensional – political, economic, institutional and moral crisis -, he calls for in -depth refoundation of the political system on consensual bases. For the former presidential candidate of 2014, only a real transition to a new Republic would avoid the collapse of the link between the State and the Society.

Soufiane Djilali is also concerned about “deep demoralization” which crosses Algerian society, marked by the loss of confidence in institutions, the political disengagement of citizens and a citizenship in decline. He warns against the consequences of such a divestment, which he considers a symptom of a breathless diet.

The leader of Jil Jadid also criticizes a “confused” foreign policy, growing diplomatic isolation and a deterioration of strategic partnerships, as many signs, according to him, of a loss of CAP from the Algerian state on the regional and international scene. For Soufiane Djilali, it is urgent to open a new political cycle. This passes, he insists, through a broad national debate, a revision of institutions and the emergence of a new pact based on popular sovereignty and the rule of law.

Finally, he alerts to the persistent authoritarian temptation of power, which he accuses of preferring repression to dialogue, immobility to reform. A strategy of fleeing forward which, according to him, can only precipitate the rupture between the Algerians and their rulers.