The Jil Jadid party sounds the alarm on the state of democracy, economy and society in Algeria

The National Council of the Jil Jadid party (whose president is Soufiane Djilali) met on November 22, 2024 for an ordinary session marked by a critical analysis of the political, economic, social and diplomatic situation in the country.

Jil Jadid draws a gloomy assessment of the democratic process initiated in 1989, which he considers today to be complete. The party denounces the marginalization of political groups, the instrumentalization of institutions, and the suppression of counter-powers. The reduction of parties to simple administrative support and the organization of elections emptied of their democratic substance are, according to the movement, proof of the return to authoritarian governance.

Faced with this failure, Jil Jadid calls for the construction of a new democratic model based on transparent rules, capable of strengthening national cohesion and offering political renewal.

On the economic front, Jil Jadid welcomes certain objectives, such as the revival of national production and the reduction of imports, but deplores counterproductive methods. The return to centralized and authoritarian management slows down, according to the party, any attempt to establish a viable economy, fueling corruption, shortages and inefficiency.

The 2025 finance law, marked by a worrying deficit, is considered risky, especially in the event of a fall in hydrocarbon prices. The party calls for reforms inspired by international successes to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

On the social side, Jil Jadid criticizes welfare policies which, according to him, encourage idleness and weaken the economy. The party calls for a dialogue with young executives, entrepreneurs, and professional categories in conflict with public authority, in order to find lasting solutions. It also underlines the urgency of fighting endemic corruption which undermines citizens’ confidence.

On the international scene, Jil Jadid welcomes Algeria’s positions, particularly in the UN Security Council, and its invitation to join the BRICS+ as a partner. The movement calls for seizing this opportunity to strengthen international cooperation, while maintaining balanced relations with traditional partners, notably Europe.

The National Council held its ordinary half-yearly meeting on Friday 22.11.2024 at the Jil Jadid headquarters. Several aspects were on the agenda of the debates, the conclusions of which are as follows.

1) The democratic process: The cycle of democratization as it was initiated with the 1989 constitution seems to be closing. The power’s obsession with manipulating political life, the excesses of certain political parties over the last three decades, whether of a security nature during the 1990s or of a clientelistic and opportunistic nature during the following two decades, have finally , jeopardized any serious construction of a reliable and patriotic political class capable of governing the country.

Recent years have seen the confirmation of the desire of those in power to put an end to what remains of free and independent political activity; the remaining objectives focused on the persistence of a traditional and conformist state practice, yet incapable of providing solutions to the country’s real structural problems.

Despite the promises of a national dialogue announced by the President of the Republic, although postponed indefinitely, political parties are, in fact, marginalized and doomed to be reduced to simple administrative appendages, of support for part of between them or put in a situation of implicit inactivity for another party. The sidelining of all political parties in the formation of a technocratic government and the hypercentralized management of all the country’s institutions, including those supposed to depend on popular choice, reflect a negative, even hostile, attitude to everything against -power.

Elections are nothing more than a democratic avatar. Instituted fraud and the active selection of political agents on the basis of their docility and mediocrity led Algerians to refuse to participate in civic life, which is nevertheless necessary for the cohesion of the nation and the construction of the State. of law.

Finally, having been disarmed by the game of subsidies and multifaceted pressures, the media are today objectively and morally in a critical situation. They are no longer able to fulfill their role. They are discredited and have no influence on public opinion, ceding their information space to the nihilism and mercenarism of “influencers” located abroad.

The defection and even popular distrust of political action, the return to the standardization of a laudatory discourse and the absence of any margin for a counter-discourse, demonstrate the final stage of the failure of the democratic cycle opened by the events of October 88.

The democratic model put in place in 1989 has collapsed. Another must necessarily be designed because the absence of political thought will lead the country towards the most dangerous nihilism.

To this end, Jil Jadid proposes to all patriots, supporters or not, to begin a serious debate to arrive at a vision of the future which could be defended collectively with national institutions with a view to democratic renewal. Sound and transparent rules whose objectives would be first and foremost national cohesion and the effective modernization of the country, could offer a new starting point.

2) Economically: it is undeniable that in principle, the choices announced are meritorious: reducing imports, maintaining consumer prices compatible with purchasing power, relaunching major projects in national production. However, the method used can only be counterproductive. The return to economic centralism, not to say old forms of archaic socialism with authoritarian administrative management, can only hinder the establishment of an efficient and viable economy. The sneaky but real and multi-level development of corruption that results from it can only alert the national conscience.

Untimely blockages of the various productive circuits dependent on inputs and finished consumable products are becoming an increasingly serious handicap. Once the old stocks are exhausted, the various shortages which are already being felt will demoralize economic operators as well as citizens.

The desire to administratively control consumer prices and the reestablishment of public monopolies will invariably lead to a decline in the quality of products placed on the market and the multiplication of misappropriations and abuses of public management to the detriment of the consumer.

Algeria but also several nations had already experimented with administrative management of the economy. As everyone knows, the same causes induce the same effects! Whatever the genius of the rulers in office, it is not possible to transform the nature of the economic act which is fundamentally linked to human nature. Algeria should integrate the lessons of history and draw inspiration from countries, formerly collectivist, which have succeeded, through real reforms, in developing while on our side, we are still entangled in managing the same problems as we create ourselves.

Furthermore, the 2025 finance law, with its colossal and incomprehensible deficit, exposes the entire financial system to major inflationary destabilization and risks creating serious distortions with serious repercussions in the event of a drop in the price of hydrocarbons on the market. international. The colossal deficit it predicts endangers the country’s economy.

3) On a social level: The government seems concerned about the level of purchasing power of the population. Multiple aids are being provided. However, the underlying logic of these measures risks making the situation worse rather than better. Indeed, the administrative takeover of economic processes will, de factolead to shortages, speculation, corruption and ultimatelythe weakening of the entire productive apparatus, thus relaunching mass unemployment. Let us point out that the development of a nation is not measured by the importance of welfare, the encouragement of idleness and possibly the exile of a part of the population. It is true that social peace is an important dimension to consider, but it must be part of the country’s development logic and not create an artificial, necessarily temporary, social peace. On the contrary, Algeria must open up to project leaders and protect them against predators too often linked to the organizations in charge of business management (certain ministries, trade, taxes, customs, etc.). The proliferation of scandalous cases affecting state officials clearly shows that the fight against corruption is, to say the least, ineffective in its current logic.

Furthermore, it is imperative to pursue a policy of dialogue with new generations of executives, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs instead of using delaying tactics which demoralize the best children in the country.

Consensual and intelligent solutions can be put in place with the different professional categories today in conflict with public authority such as doctors, doctoral students, small traders, etc.

The primary essence of politics is the peaceful management of the natural contradictions that develop in a dynamic society. Balance is achieved through dialogue and taking into account each other’s aspirations. Authoritarianism can only generate more conflicts and more tensions, to the detriment of the nation.

4) Algeria in the world: In recent years, major changes have been taking place. The challenge to unipolarity is irreversible although it is currently a source of serious conflicts in the world.

In this context, the conflict in occupied Palestine has become one of the sources of global tensions. Jil Jadid welcomes Algeria’s positions. Its role, particularly at the level of the UN Security Council, is honorable and deserves recognition.

The invitation made by the BRICS+ summit to Algeria to be in partner status must be appreciated at its fair value. It is imperative to seize this opportunity to offer the country the possibility of contributing to the establishment of a new international cooperation framework and above all to provide itself with modern financial and commercial tools.

This positioning in favor of a multipolar world should obviously not mean any hostility towards other traditional partners. In particular, a new vision of our relations with the close European neighborhood must integrate the geographical, historical, human dimensions and economic complementarity allowing exchanges in the interest of both parties.

Algeria has everything to gain from a balanced relationship with all the centers of power in the world.

It is imperative to envision our future in a new global configuration whose primary objective should be peace, cooperation and development.