In an Interview With AL-Estiklal: Abdul Razzak Mukri Talks About the Role of the 'Gang' in the Algerian Elections

Abdul Razzak Mukri, head of the Hams Movement ‘Society for Peace ‘in Algeria, confirmed that the movement is the first winner in the legislative elections, but that "the gang (the former regime) illegally intervened to change the results."

Mukri spoke of falsifying the results in favor of the candidates of the deep state and the remnants of the party of ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, known as the former ruling National Liberation Front.

The National Liberation Front party, headed by Bouteflika (honorably), achieved a surprising and unexpected victory, despite the presence of many of its leaders and former deputies in prisons on corruption charges.

About 77 percent of registered voters boycotted these elections which took place in June, estimated at more than 24 million and 425 thousand. Nearly 18 million voters did not vote, which helped Bouteflika's party to lead the parliamentary scene again.

Bouteflika's party maintained first place for the fifth time in a row since 2002, after winning 105 seats, but it lost 56 seats compared to the 2017 elections, in which it won 161 seats.

In his interview with Al-Estiklal, Mukri said that the movement is ready to participate in the next government.

He pointed out that their winning of 65 seats despite the flagrant fraud in the elections is a positive thing which proved that the movement did not end as some had thought and said, as it doubled the number of its 34 seats in the 2017 elections.

• Will you participate in the next government, or will you remain in the opposition seats?

Mukri: Participation in governments is based on negotiations and dialogue about programs and tasks, and this dialogue has not been launched yet.

The authority has many options in the matter of forming a government, it can form a majority.

Looking at the reality that Algeria is familiar with at the economic, social, political, international, and regional levels, it appears that the authority does not have many options.

The country needs a political vision that depends on dialogue, and the formation of a comprehensive national pact. This requires more political calm, and then it needs to go to a national unity government on which it can rely so that it can face development challenges, while starting reforms that provide a business environment that positively affects the general economic situation.

• Do you have specific conditions for alliance or participation in the government?

Mukri: The movement condition for participation in the government is the match of the offer submitted to our parliamentary bloc with our announced electoral program, and in turn we will listen to the suggested offers.

If it is serious and it gives us a sign that we can contribute to the service of the country through such a government, then we will decide.

• Can we see an alliance between Islamists under the dome of the 2021 parliament?

Mukri: We announced our program, and it has several pillars: freedoms, development, fighting corruption, eliminating the remnants of the gang, emphasizing the Arab-Islamic identity of Algeria in accordance with national sovereignty, resisting normalization and pursuing Zionist expansion in the region, and anyone who has the courage and integrity to work with us according to these principles we will cooperate with him.

• Among your statements that the Society for Peace Movement defeated the gang in Algeria. How did that happen?

Mukri: I said that the Society for Peace Movement was the first winning party, and the gang intervened to change the results. We were the ones who were the first in most of the states in the first hours of counting and collecting votes, then the gang's hands intervened to change the results.

The forgery arrangement was planned as the screening records were refused to hand over to our representatives in violation of the law in many offices in a number of states.

These minutes, which were not delivered to us in particular, arrived late after long hours of waiting, and came strangely in favor of the beneficiaries by exaggerating their results and dwarfing our results. In addition, we were able to prove many other cases in which seats were divided in violation of the sorting records.

 

• Why did you boycott the presidential elections and participate in the legislative 2021?

Mukri: We did not boycott the presidential elections, but we did not run in them, participated in the vote, and did not boycott them; We have decided not to contest the presidential elections at this stage. Let us spare our country Algeria what may happen because of clashes and slips, as happened in some Arab countries.

In addition, we are not in a country where there is integrity and the possibility of competing for the presidency when a party that has a real ability to compete.

• -You announced that there was some flagrant fraud in the announcement of the election results. What impact did this have on your progress and why did you exempt President Abdel Majid Tebboune from it? What is your interpretation?

Mukri: We live in the Arab world, the world's most intractable to democratic transformation. 

In Algeria, things are safe, thank God, and there are wide margins for political and social action, and the time will come when the actual democratic transition will happen smoothly, God willing.

We absolve the President of the Republic of the serious transgressions that have affected the results of the elections, and we do not accuse the President of the Independent National Authority because he does not have the tools to know what is happening in the states.

• Why did the head of the Independent Electoral Authority not mention, during the results announcement, the total number of votes obtained by each party?

The Society for Peace Movement "Hamas" succeeded in doubling the number of its seats in Parliament in 2021 compared to 2017. Did you expect that?

Mukri: Given the development of the movement and the images that Algerians and followers understood, its results in the recent elections are positive because many considered that "Hamas" is over and will end and that it will not be in this lead.

However, we have advanced and proved that our place is in the leadership, and the truth is that our results are not what is mentioned now, but rather more, and we still believe that our movement, had it not been for the wrong transgressions that occurred, would have been the first in the forefront if the electoral fraud did not happen.

• What is your vision for the country's future in light of the final results of the legislative elections?

Mukri: It is the economic and social situation that will decide the future of the country. That is why we presented in the elections the “Algerian Dream” program, which includes a political vision aimed at launching a dialogue to reach national consensus, a “comprehensive national contract” and political calm, and a national unity government that has political and social visions to work for development.

Within this framework, we presented an economic vision, major reform projects to improve the business environment, and detailed sectoral measures to respond to the development challenge.

Accordingly, the future of the country is in the hands of who will form the majority in parliament, who will be in the government, and how will he respond to the challenge of development.

• How will you deal with the boycotts of the elections and the list of independent winners?

The boycott is caused primarily by the long track of electoral fraud, as many people say that they do not participate in elections in which their will is not respected.

Second: The systematic distortion of the parliament and the parliament by the former ruling authority, where the voter considers voting just as a social promotion for individuals.

Third: People have not seen anything change in their lives through periodic elections controlled by the same political forces since independence.

To remedy this situation, elections must first be held without rigging so that voters can participate in the following elections.

Second: When a large number of representatives are chosen by the people, they will be keen to serve the people and return to the citizens during their tenure, because the voter becomes the one who decides their fate, thus improving the image of the representative.

Thirdly, if the government is formed from the popular will and is at the necessary level of competence, development will move forward, and the citizens' conditions will improve. The issue is related to a long political path.

• Do the elections reproduce the old regime, or write a new history for Algeria?

Mukri: Undoubtedly, the results are worrying, but whether we reach a national consensus or not, confirms whether we are heading for change or reproducing the past.

If we had the majority and we were the main force, we would have gone directly to those who did not participate in those elections to persuade them to return to political participation within the framework of a national unity government amid a broad popular incubator to protect it and support its development projects.

We are not one of the parties that is locked in a particular case. When we find ourselves in a negative situation, we jump to a positive angle through which we work, and our outlook is always optimistic and positive.

But we are not the only actors. We are part of the scene. We were positive, and we will remain positive and active. We also set our priorities in the Algerian dream.

• What is the role of the Society for Peace Movement in supporting the Palestinian cause and resisting normalization?

Mukri: There is no doubt that The Society for Peace Movement is at the forefront of its prominent role in supporting the Palestinian cause.

The Algerian people realize that there is no solution with the occupation except resistance and unification of the word, and that the method of killing and massacres is the method of the occupier throughout history, and what is happening in Palestine today reminds them of the massacres of May 1945 in Algeria.

The actions of the Palestinian resistance also put the new typists Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco into trouble and in a major political scandal, and that the Arab regimes that normalized with the Zionist entity did so in order to stay in power and not for the benefit of their people.

The Palestinian cause is just on the level of all standards, and it has proven its strength in the scale of its intifada and the strength of the current battle, which has exposed the occupation in front of world public opinion.

• How do you see the normalization of one of the Maghreb countries with the Zionist entity?

Mukri: The Moroccan regime has not been printed since today, and no one, who is familiar with the Palestinian issue, can ignore the old hidden and overt normalization tracks between Morocco and the Zionist entity.

It is also not hidden from the insider the efforts of the Moroccan people and the Arab peoples in general to reject normalization through its millions of marches and its various efforts against the normalization of the official ruling regimes.

• How do you see the death sentences in Egypt (for leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and former officials) on the eve of the anniversary of the martyrdom of former President Mohamed Morsi?

Just imprisoning these oppressed is a crime, and prosecuting them is futile, and sentencing them to death is a political decision, and if they are actually executed, that is disgraceful and a violation of all heavenly laws and international norms.

• What is your position on the situation in Libya in light of the political solution under the auspices of the United Nations?

The situation in Libya is improving, especially after the recent agreements and the agreement to go to general elections before the end of the year.

However, the militias of Khalifa Haftar and the countries behind them are still threatening this difficult path to building the Libyan state and unifying the word of the Libyans.