Elections in Algeria
Only a few weeks after deadly car bomb attacks in Algiers, Algerians prepare to go to the polls on May 17. FRANCE 24 correspondent Armen Georgian reports on the run-up to the elections.
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Friday, May 18, 2007
A respectable turnoutLots of smiles from journalists when interior minister says the turnout was respectable (it's the lowest since Algeria gained its independence.) An Orwellian moment, someone said. Interesting stats on the new parliament - more than 92 percent are men, there are only three more women now than in the last parliament. Also most are in the 51 to 60 age group. Algeria has one of the biggest young populations in the Middle East, yet only four new MP's are under thirty, out of 359 seats.Your reaction
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Thursday, May 17, 2007
Frantic running around at the international press centre to find our live points, some heart-stopping moments but we get away with it. I come across as a bit of a doughnut on Andrea Sanke's show, with some strange paintings in the background and holding the earpieces with both hands to try to hear what's happening in the studio, then grabbing a 1970's style radio mike. But the programme goes well.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The predident of the RepublicSecurity story - beautiful day, worked on the corniche, looks a lot like Marseille. Contrast between the police presence and the lack of jitters on the street. That's not just because people aren't intending to vote - they braved bombings for years during one of the most gruesome civil wars of the 20th century.
Hypnotised by state TV in the evening, and learn a new phrase: "Rais Jumhuriya". Just when you think coverage of the president's visit to Annaba will end, you hear the words in the next cue - the president of the Republic...He's seen lecturing officials on redevelopment projects, often in French (is this for foreign consumption? foreign correspondents are here in force for the elections.) The local officials don't dare answer back ! He's not a man to be crossed.Delightful dinner with Dilem, one of Algeria's best cartoonists, works for Liberté. He's working on a picture for the next morning ( Election D Day) with the caption - there are more candidates than voters !- Send by e-mail
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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Circulation tal m'hebilFinally get news that we've failed in our attempt to embed ourselves with a military security brigade. Our contact tells us a senior official decided it's too sensitive. Shame, would have made a good opener for the election.Instead we film for a potential story on the Algiers traffic ! As they say here, "circulation tal m'hebil" - it's bonkers. Same for any capital city, you might say, but here people are still waiting for the mannah of the metro. It's been promised for 2008 but people we interviewed said that's cloud cuckoo land. So if you think taking the bus in London is hell try Algiers where you don't have a choice.- Send by e-mail
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Saturday, May 12, 2007
The roads in Bentalha are terrible. There are some improvements in infrastructure, we were told, and lots of new buildings. A lot of the houses where people were massacred are empty, but we saw a few people going inside in the worst-hit area. The GIA (armed Islamist group in the civil war) might have gone, but there's still a threat of Al Qaida Maghreb militants - one kid warned us that a few were caught near Bentalha a couple of weeks ago.
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Friday, May 11, 2007
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Thursday, May 10, 2007
Bologhine stadium, Algiers. Nice artificial grass. Big traffic jams coming in, lots of people from the sorrounding area (Bab el Oued) came. It's not a rich area, but you can afford a ticket, it's not like Arsenal.My F24 colleague was apparently the only woman in the stadium. She was greeted with cries of "Sabrina", a reference to a popular song in which a hapless young man tries to woo a sophisticated young woman. I think Algerian men need to rethink their pick-up lines. They weren't very PC in general - one player who made a bad move was taunted from the stalls as "Ségolène Royal" !Joking apart, football violence sometimes spills out onto the streets - there was an incident outside Algiers just a few days before we arrived in the country.- Send by e-mail
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Monday, May 7, 2007
Reactions to the French elections"Il est terrible, ce Sarko" is a common refrain in the street, but a few have said they're not unhappy he's won because "he says what he means", while the left was "a bit vague." Also some people reckon he'll be good for relaunching economic relations which have stagnated in the last few years.Unfortunately there was no time in this morning's programme for an Algerian press review, but two things caught my eye - a cartoon in Liberté which has a woman trying to get to France and saying "well we'll just have to learn how to swim now!" - getting visas under Sarkozy won't be that easy - and El-Chourouk emphasised Sarkozy's ethnic origins, showing him putting on a Jewish skullcap on the front page and running a story saying the Jewish vote in France was an important factor for him. Their headline was "Little Bush wins with 53 percent."- Send by e-mail
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