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Bendjedid in May 1988, a few months before the riots in Algeria that would lead to elections that sparked his country’s descent into bloody civil war
Picture: AP
Chadli Bendjedid, who has died aged 83, introduced democratic reforms at the end of his 13-year spell as president of Algeria only to watch them lead to a disputed election that sparked a horrendous decade-long civil war.
He made the decision to introduce multiparty elections in 1988, as ordinary Algerians responded with outrage to the brutal military quelling of riots and protests sparked by a slumping economy and soaring food prices. Prompted by a mixture of genuine sympathy and political self-interest, Bendjedid dismissed the prime minister and the head of military security before organising two referendums that sealed constitutional and electoral reforms.
The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was one of 39 parties formed as a result, and was seen as the principal challenger to the National Liberation Front (FLN), the party of power, which had led the anti-colonial uprising against the French.
The first test of the new system came in local elections in June 1990 and resulted in a devastating defeat for the FLN, as Islamic candidates captured the bulk of seats. The government accepted the result but, in March 1991, three months before the country’s first free general election, introduced crude new electoral rules that appeared little short of blatant gerrymandering.
The measures sparked a new wave of popular protest and, just three weeks before the June 27 poll, Bendjedid sent troops to clear the Islamic Salvation Front from key city centres that it had occupied for 10 days. He also imposed a four-month “state of siege” that banned strikes, demonstrations and subversive publications, and ordered late-night curfews in trouble spots. In October a second electoral law was introduced further to benefit the incumbent regime.
Despite this, when the first round of the delayed elections was finally held on December 26 1991, the result was a stunning victory for the Islamists of the FIS, who secured more than 47 per cent of the vote, more than twice the share of the FLN. The second round of voting, set for January 16 1992, was never held. Rather than wait for the Islamist landslide, the army moved in, cancelling the elections. With the reforms he had initiated spinning wildly out of control, Bendjedid was forced to resign. Within weeks, attacks by Islamist guerrillas were being launched.
At first they targeted police and the army, but soon civilians were drawn into the escalating conflict. For a decade, bloodshed characterised by great savagery enveloped the country, and an estimated 200,000 people were killed.
Chadli Bendjedid was born on April 14 1929 into a peasant family in the eastern village of Bouteldja, on the Mediterranean coast. Convinced that the best prospect for advancement was to join the forces of the colonial power, he became an NCO in the French army, serving in Indo-China before turning his coat and joining FLN guerrillas shortly after the rebellion against French colonial rule began on November 1 1954. He rose through its military framework to become commander of the 13th battalion, which was based near FLN sanctuaries in Tunisia. It was at this time that he became close to Houari Boumedienne, an FLN leader who would become the post-independence defence minister.
After independence Bendjedid himself was appointed military commander of the region around Algeria’s third city, Constantine. Two years later he rose to take charge of the area around Oran, the country’s second city, near the border with Morocco.
In 1965, when Boumedienne launched a coup to overthrow Ahmed Ben Bella, the FLN leader and independent Algeria’s first president, Bendjedid was in on the plot, and named a member of the Revolutionary Council. He was promoted colonel in 1969.
By the mid-1970s, while still at the helm in Oran, Bendjedid had become disenchanted with the repressive policies of Boumedienne, particularly the development of land collectivisation. Yet as the oldest and most senior officer in the army, he was put forward as the sole candidate in the party election after Boumedienne’s death in 1978.
A committed socialist, Chadli declared in his acceptance speech that he had no interest in the wealth and honour his appointment might bestow upon him. He vowed to carry on Boumedienne’s policies, but in fact set out on a long process to rid Algeria of his predecessor’s influence.
Ben Bella was released from house arrest. Other political exiles were allowed to return home. But the economic picture was mixed. Three years after Bendjedid’s election, when Algeria celebrated the 20th anniversary of independence, the country’s industry was working far below capacity. While some development projects had been paid for with revenue from oil and gas, agricultural productivity was disappointing. From having been a successful food exporter, Algeria was increasingly forced to rely on imports to feed its fast growing 23 million-strong population.
Year by year food shortages became increasingly acute. With prices high, peasants left the impoverished countryside for industrial areas, and some cities claimed an annual population increase of eight per cent.
The increasing number of young men – 57 per cent of the population was under 21 and almost half were unemployed – remained the pivot of political stability. The country’s debt spiralled to $17 billion.
Internationally, Bendjedid positioned Algeria in the non-aligned movement that rejected overt Soviet influence but also resisted the close ties with America that had been forged by governments in neighbouring Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco.
Instead, he gave Algeria the role of referee-mediator in disputes arising from Middle East terrorism. Ready to soothe, advise and mediate, he acted as an intermediary between Iran and the United States in 1981 during the siege of the American embassy in Tehran, and received the hostages when they were freed. He also provided a haven for PLO guerrillas fleeing the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and granted asylum to members of ETA, the Basque terrorist organisation.
He was coming to the end of his second four-year term as president when, in October 1988, the sporadic riots broke out that would lead to his liberalising effort. As well as promising electoral reform, Bendjedid promised to reduce state interference in the economy.
As the 1991 general election campaign descended into violence and Islamic leaders called for jihad, Bendjedid – a devout Muslim himself – resigned from the chairmanship of the FLN in a last ditch move to put himself above the increasingly factional dispute. But it was soon clear that events had gone beyond such gestures. Forced to announce his resignation as president on January 12 1991, he was briefly placed under house arrest.
Chadli Bendjedid largely avoided the political fray thereafter, but his memoirs are due to be published next month.
Like many revolutionaries, Bendjedid was widely known by his first name, but he also bore the unusual nickname of Jeff Chandler, owing to his remarkable likeness to the Hollywood actor of the 1950s. He was married to Halima Ben Aissa.
Chadli Bendjedid, born April 14 1929, died October 6 2012
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