By Nazim Fethi in Ghardaia for Magharebia
According to the National Committee for Protection of the Rights of the Unemployed (CNDDC), some 1,000 people turned out for the demonstration.
The protest was peaceful from beginning to end, just as organisers wanted it to be.
CNDCC members were determined to distance themselves from the violence in nearby Ouargla last week. Clashes over social housing distribution left one young man dead Friday from tear gas asphyxiation.
Tahar Belabbes, the national co-ordinator for the CNDCC, expressed disapproval over the clashes that erupted in his hometown of Ouargla.
“We have criticised and warned against the risk of young people being manipulated into becoming violent. Our movement is a peaceful one and will remain so,” he added.
May 1st Square was bedecked with national emblems and CNDDC slogans. For more than two hours, young people chanted their usual slogans and demanded concrete and feasible measures to solve the problem of unemployment in the south.
Like the demonstrations in other southern towns, the demonstration in Ghardaia attracted the same political figures that supported the movement from the outset.
Belabbes noted that his movement was apolitical and added that he could not turn away representatives of parties or organisations affiliated with political parties.
“Whether they are left-wing, right-wing, Islamist or secular, they are welcome,” he said.
The next demonstration is scheduled to take place in Djelfa.
Belabbes said that the protests would not stop until the authorities engaged in a frank and transparent discussion with representatives of the unemployed. He noted that the CNDDC had representatives in all 48 provinces.
“If the authorities intend to play the violence card to discredit us, they will need a whole army across all 48 provinces of the country to manipulate young people and spur them to commit acts of violence and counter-violence,” he said.
While it waits for the dialogue so fervently desired by the CNDDC to begin, the movement is growing day by day and refining its working methods.
Its leaders made no secret of their ambition of positioning themselves as an alternative to the traditional system of local representation and were targeting local elected representatives and prominent figures, who the group said had no right to speak on behalf of young people.
“It is a demonstration about the dignity of the unemployed,” CNDDC member Hamdane Abdesselam said.
Young people of Ghardaia also claim that companies do not comply with the latest order issued by the prime minister.
The directive to prioritise recruitment of southerners must be put into practice, Abdesselam added.
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