Abdelaziz Bouteflika
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Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Template:Pronunciation; Template:Langx Template:IPA; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019.
Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika served during the Algerian War as a member of the National Liberation Front. After Algeria gained its independence from France, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1963 until 1979. He served as President of the United Nations General Assembly during the 1974–1975 session. In 1983 he was convicted of stealing millions of dinars from Algerian embassies during his diplomatic career.
In 1999, Bouteflika was elected president of Algeria in a landslide victory. He would win re-elections in 2004, 2009, and 2014. As President, he presided over the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002 when he took over the project of his immediate predecessor President Liamine Zéroual, and he ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest. Following a stroke in 2013, Bouteflika had made few public appearances throughout his fourth term, making his final appearance in 2017.<ref name=BBCobit/>
Bouteflika resigned on 2 April 2019 amid months of mass protests opposing his candidacy for a fifth term. With nearly 20 years in power, he is the longest-serving head of state of Algeria to date.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following his resignation, Bouteflika became a recluse and died at the age of 84 in 2021, over two years after his resignation.<ref name=BBCobit/>
Early life and education
Abdelaziz Bouteflika was born on 2 March 1937 in Oujda, Morocco.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the son of Mansouria Ghezlaoui and Ahmed Bouteflika from Tlemcen, Algeria. He had three half-sisters (Fatima, Yamina, and Aïcha), as well as four brothers (Abdelghani, Mustapha, Abderahim, and Saïd) and one sister (Latifa).<ref name="nahar">Template:Cite web</ref> Saïd Bouteflika, 20 years his junior, would later be appointed special counselor to his brother in 1999. Unlike Saïd, who was raised mostly in Tlemcen,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Abdelaziz grew up in Oujda, where his father had emigrated as a youngster.<ref name="nahar" /> The son of a zaouia sheikh, he was well-versed in the Qur'an.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He successively attended three schools in Oudja: Sidi Ziane, El Hoceinia, and Abdel Moumen High Schools, where he reportedly excelled academically.<ref name="nahar" /> He was also affiliated with Qadiriyya Zaouia in Oujda.<ref name="nahar" />
In 1956, Bouteflika went to the village of Ouled Amer near Tlemcen and subsequently joined—at the age of 19—the National Liberation Army, which was a military branch of the National Liberation Front.<ref name="nahar" /> He received his military education at the École des Cadres in Dar El Kebdani, Morocco.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1957–1958, he was designated a controller of Wilaya V,<ref name="nahar" /> making reports on the conditions at the Moroccan border and in west Algeria, but later became the administrative secretary of Houari Boumédiène. He became one of his closest collaborators and a core member of his Oujda Group.<ref name="Carnegie_Tlemçani" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1960, he was assigned to leading the Malian Front in the Algerian south and became known for his nom de guerre of Abdelkader al-Mali, which has survived until today.<ref name=":0" /> In 1962, at the arrival of independence, he aligned with Boumédienne and the border armies in support of Ahmed Ben Bella against the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic.<ref name="britannica">Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
Following independence in 1962, Bouteflika became deputy for Tlemcen in the Constituent Assembly and Minister for Youth and Sport in the government led by Ahmed Ben Bella; the following year, he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.<ref name=":1" />
He was a prime mover in the military coup led by Houari Boumediene that overthrew Ben Bella on 19 June 1965.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Bouteflika continued as Minister for Foreign Affairs until the death of President Boumédienne in 1978.<ref name="britannica" />
He also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1974 and of the seventh special session in 1975,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> becoming the youngest person to have done so.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Algeria at this time was a leader of the Non-Aligned Nations Movement.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He had discussions there with Henry Kissinger in the first talks between the United States and Algerian officials since the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 12 November 1974, in his capacity as president of the General Assembly, Bouteflika suspended the then Apartheid government of South Africa from participating in the 29th session of the UN.<ref name=Jhabvala1977>Template:Cite journal</ref> The suspension was challenged by the US, but upheld by the assembly by a vote of 91 to 22 on 13 November.<ref name=Jhabvala1977/><ref>South Africa Is Suspended By U.N. Assembly, 91-22. New York Times. 13 November 1974.</ref>
In 1981, he was charged with having stolen Algerian embassies' money between 1965 and 1979.<ref name=court>Template:Cite web</ref> On 8 August 1983, Bouteflika was convicted by the Court of Financial Auditors and found guilty of having fraudulently taken 60 million dinars during his diplomatic career.<ref name=court/> Bouteflika was granted amnesty by President Chadli Bendjedid, his colleagues Senouci and Boudjakdji were jailed.<ref name=court/> After the amnesty, Bouteflika was given back his diplomatic passport, a villa where he used to live but did not own, and all his debt was erased.<ref name=court/> He never paid back the money "he reserved for a new foreign affairs ministry's building".<ref>El Moudjahid newspaper, 9 August 1983</ref>
Succession struggle, corruption and exile
Following Boumédienne's unexpected death in 1978, Bouteflika was seen as one of the two main candidates to succeed the powerful president.<ref name=left/> Bouteflika was thought to represent the party's "right wing" that was more open to economic reform and rapprochement with the West.<ref name=left/> Colonel Mohamed Salah Yahiaoui represented the "boumédiennist" left wing.<ref name=left>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In the end, the military opted for a compromise candidate, the senior army colonel Chadli Bendjedid.<ref name="britannica" /> Bouteflika was reassigned the role of Minister of State, but successively lost power as Bendjedid's policies of "de-Boumédiennisation" marginalised the old guard.<ref name="britannica" />
In 1981, Bouteflika went into exile fleeing corruption charges.<ref name="NYTobit"/><ref name="britannica" /> In 1983, he was convicted of corruption.<ref name="occrp"/> After six years abroad, in 1989, the army brought him back to the Central Committee of the FLN, after the country had entered a troubled period of unrest and disorganised attempts at reform, with power-struggles between Bendjedid and a group of army generals paralysing decision-making.<ref name="MWN">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1992, the reform process ended abruptly when the army took power and scrapped elections that were about to bring the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front to power.<ref name="MWN" /> This triggered a civil war that would last throughout the 1990s.<ref name="MWN" /> During this period, Bouteflika stayed on the sidelines, with little presence in the media and no political role.<ref name="britannica" /> In January 1994, Bouteflika was said to have refused the Army's proposal to succeed the assassinated president, Mohamed Boudiaf; he claimed later that this was because the army would not grant him full control over the armed forces.<ref name="britannica" /><ref name="out2019" /> Instead, General Liamine Zéroual became president.<ref name="britannica" /><ref name="out2019">Template:Cite web</ref>
First term as President, 1999–2004
In 1999, after Zéroual unexpectedly stepped down and announced early elections, Bouteflika successfully ran for president as an independent candidate, supported by the military.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> All other candidates withdrew from the election immediately prior to the vote, citing fraud concerns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bouteflika subsequently organised a referendum on his policies to restore peace and security to Algeria (involving amnesties for Islamist guerrillas) and to test his support among his countrymen after the contested election.<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite web</ref> He won with 81% of the vote, but this figure was also disputed by opponents.<ref name=NYT/>
Foreign policy
Bouteflika presided over the Organisation of African Unity in 2000, secured the Algiers Peace Treaty between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and supported peace efforts in the African Great Lakes region.<ref name=africa>Template:Cite web</ref> He also secured a friendship treaty with nearby Spain in 2002, and welcomed president Jacques Chirac of France on a state visit to Algiers in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=NYTFA>Template:Cite news</ref> This was intended as a prelude to the signature of a friendship treaty.<ref name=NYTFA/>
Algeria has been particularly active in African relations, and in mending ties with the West, as well as trying to some extent to resurrect its role in the declining non-Aligned movement.<ref name=africa/> However, it has played a more limited role in Arab politics, its other traditional sphere of interest.<ref name=TAR/> Relations with the Kingdom of Morocco remained quite tense, with diplomatic clashes on the issue of the Western Sahara, despite some expectations of a thaw in 1999, which was also the year of King Mohamed VI's accession to the throne in Morocco.<ref name=TAR>Template:Cite web</ref>
Second term as President, 2004–2009
On 8 April 2004, Bouteflika was re-elected by an unexpectedly high 85% of the vote in an election that was accepted by Western observers as a free and fair election.<ref name="Holm" /> This was contested by his rival and former chief of staff Ali Benflis.<ref name="Holm" /> Several newspapers alleged that the election had not been fair.<ref name="Holm" /> Frustration was expressed over extensive state control over the broadcast media.<ref name="Holm" /> The electoral victory was widely seen as a confirmation of Bouteflika's strengthening control over the state, cemented through forcing General Mohammed Lamari to resign as his chief of staff and replacing him "with Ahmed Salah Gaid, his close friend and ally."<ref name="Carnegie_Tlemçani">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Only 17% of people in Kabylia voted in 2004,<ref name="Holm">Template:Cite journal</ref> which represented a significant increase over the violence-ridden legislative elections of 2002.<ref name="2002boycott">Template:Cite web</ref> Country-wide, the registered turnout rate was 59%.<ref name="Holm" />
Reconciliation plan
During the first year of his second term, Bouteflika held a referendum on his "Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation", inspired by the 1995 "Sant'Egidio Platform" document.<ref name=goal/> The law born of the referendum showed that one of Bouteflika's goals in promoting this blanket amnesty plan was to help Algeria recover its image internationally and to guarantee immunity to institutional actors.<ref name=goal>Template:Cite web</ref>
The first year of Bouteflika's second term implemented the Complementary Plan for Economic Growth Support (PCSC), which aimed for the construction of 1 million housing units, the creation of 2 million jobs, the completion of the East–west highway, the completion of the Algiers subway project, the delivery of the new Algiers airport, and other similar large scale infrastructure projects.<ref name=PCSC>Template:Cite web</ref>
The PCSC totaled $60 billion of spending over the five-year period. Bouteflika also aimed to bring down the external debt from $21 billion to $12 billion in the same time.<ref name=PCSC/> He also obtained from Parliament the reform of the law governing the oil and gas industries, despite initial opposition from the workers unions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, Bouteflika subsequently stepped back from this position and supported amendments to the hydrocarbon law in 2006, which propose watering down some of the clauses of the 2005 legislation relating to the role of Sonatrach, the state owned oil & gas company, in new developments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Foreign policy
During Bouteflika's second term he was sharply critical of the law—passed after the 2005 French riots—ordering French history school books to teach that French colonisation had positive effects abroad, especially in North Africa.<ref name=colonial/> The diplomatic crisis which ensued delayed the signing of a friendship treaty between the two countries.<ref name=colonial>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ties to Russia were strengthened and Russia agreed to forgive debts if Algeria began buying arms and gave Russian gas companies (Gazprom, Itera, and Lukoil) access to joint fossil-fuel ventures in Algeria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2004 Bouteflika organised the Arab League Summit and became President of the Arab League for one year; however his calls for reform of the League did not gain sufficient support to pass during the Algiers summit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
At the March 2005 meeting of Arab leaders, held in Algiers, Bouteflika spoke out strongly against Israel, "The Israelis' continuous killing and refusal of a comprehensive and lasting peace, which the Arab world is calling for, requires from us to fully support the Palestinian people."<ref name=pressure/> Despite criticism from the west, specifically the United States, Bouteflika insisted that Arab nations would reform at their own pace.<ref name=pressure>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 16 July 2009, President of Vietnam Nguyễn Minh Triết, met with Bouteflika on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Egypt.<ref name=minh/> President Triet and Bouteflika agreed that the two countries still have great potential for development of political and trade relations.<ref name=minh/> Triet praised the Algerian government for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group to invest in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Algeria.<ref name=minh>VN President meets Algerian leader in Egypt Template:Webarchive</ref>
In March 2016, the foreign ministers of the Arab league voted to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization, Bouteflika voted with Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq to reject the motion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In sub-Saharan Africa, a major concern of Bouteflika's Algeria had been on-and-off Tuareg rebellions in northern Mali.<ref name=mali>Template:Cite web</ref> Algeria has asserted itself forcefully as mediator in the conflict, perhaps underlining its growing regional influence.<ref name=mali/> Compromise peace agreements were reached in 2007 and 2008, both mediated by Algiers.<ref name=mali/>
Constitutional amendment for a third term
In 2006, Bouteflika appointed a new Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Belkhadem then announced plans that violate the Algerian Constitution to allow the President to run for office indefinitely and increase his powers.<ref name=violate>iol.co.za Template:Webarchive, by Hassane Meftahi, 26 May 2006; and liberation.fr (in French)</ref> This was widely regarded as aimed to let Bouteflika run for president for a third term.<ref name=violate/> In 2008, Belkhadem was shifted out of the premiership and his predecessor Ahmed Ouyahia brought in, having also come out in favor of the constitutional amendment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Council of Ministers announced on 3 November 2008 that the planned constitutional revision proposal would remove the presidential term limit previously included in Article 74.<ref>"Algérie: vers la suppression de la limitation des mandats présidentiels" Template:Webarchive, AFP, 3 November 2008 Template:In lang.</ref> The People's National Assembly endorsed the removal of the term limit on 12 November 2008; only the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) voted against its removal.<ref name=Pathetic>"Algerian opposition pulls out of 'pathetic' presidential vote" Template:Webarchive, AFP, 15 January 2009.</ref>
Third term as President, 2009–2014
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Following the constitutional amendment allowing him to run for a third term, on 12 February 2009, Bouteflika announced his independent candidacy in the 2009 presidential election.<ref>"Bouteflika seeks third term in office", Reuters (IOL), 12 February 2009.</ref> On 10 April 2009, it was announced that Bouteflika had won the election with 90.24% of the vote, on a turnout of 74%,<ref name="reuters1">Bouteflika wins third term as Algerian president Template:Webarchive – reuters, 10 April 2009</ref> thereby obtaining a new five-year term. Several opposition parties had boycotted the election, with the opposition Socialist Forces Front citing a "tsunami of massive fraud".<ref name="reuters1" />
2010–2012 Algerian protests
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In 2010, journalists gathered to demonstrate for press freedom and against Bouteflika's self-appointed role as editor-in-chief of Algeria's state television station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2011, the government rescinded the state of emergency that had been in place since 1992 but still banned all protest gatherings and demonstrations.<ref name=2011bone/> However, in April 2011, over 2,000 protesters defied an official ban and took to the streets of Algiers, clashing with police forces.<ref name=2011bone/> Protesters noted that they were inspired by the recent Egyptian Revolution, and that Algeria was a police state and "corrupt to the bone".<ref name=2011bone>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fourth term as President, 2014–2019
Following yet another constitutional amendment, allowing him to run for a fourth term, Bouteflika announced that he would.<ref name=againfour/> He met the electoral law requiring a candidate to collect over 60,000 signatures from supporters in 25 provinces.<ref name=againfour>Template:Cite web</ref> On 18 April 2014, he was re-elected with 81% of the vote, while Benflis was second placed with 12.18%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The turnout was 51.7%, down from the 75% turnout in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several opposition parties boycotted the election again, resulting in allegations of fraud.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Bouteflika cabled his congratulations to freshly-reelected Bashar al-Assad on 19 April 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bouteflika was admitted to a clinic at Grenoble in France in November 2014.<ref>"Bouteflika hospitalisé à Grenoble Template:Webarchive. Dauphiné libéré, 14 November 2014</ref> In November 2016, he was hospitalized in France for medical checks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 20 February 2017, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel canceled her trip to Algeria an hour before takeoff, reportedly because Bouteflika had severe bronchitis.<ref name="2017-02-20_S">Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2017, Bouteflika made a rare, and brief, appearance on Algerian state television presiding over a cabinet meeting with his new government.<ref name=spending/> In a written statement, he ordered the government to reduce imports, curb spending, and be wary of foreign debt.<ref name=spending/> He called for banking sector reform and more investment in renewable energy and "unconventional fossil hydrocarbons".<ref name=spending>Template:Cite news</ref> Bouteflika was reliant on a wheelchair and had not given a speech in public since 2014 due to aphasia following his stroke.<ref name="MondeDiplo">Template:Cite news</ref> That same year, he made his final public appearance while unveiling a new metro station and the newly renovated Ketchaoua Mosque in Algiers.<ref name=BBCobit/>
During his final term as president, Bouteflika was usually not been seen in public for more than two years, and several of his close associates had not seen him for more than one year.<ref name=ill/> It was alleged that he could hardly speak and communicated by letter with his ministers.<ref name=ill>Template:Cite news</ref>
Candidacy for fifth term, protests, and resignation
On 10 February 2019, a press release signed by the long-ailing Bouteflika announcing he would seek a fifth consecutive term provoked widespread discontent.<ref name="akef" /> Youth protesters demanded his picture be removed from city halls in Kenchela and Annaba in the days before the national demonstrations on 22 February, organized via social media.<ref name="akef" /> Those in Algiers, where street protests are illegal, were the biggest in nearly 18 years. Protestors ripped down a giant poster of Bouteflika from the landmark Algiers central post office.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 11 March 2019, after sustained protests, Bouteflika announced that he would not seek a new term.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, his withdrawal from the elections was not enough to end the protests.<ref name=aj/> On 31 March 2019, Bouteflika along with the Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui who had taken office 20 days earlier, formed a 27-member cabinet with only 6 of the appointees being retained from the outgoing president administration.<ref name=aj/> The next day, Bouteflika announced that he would resign by 28 April 2019.<ref name=aj>Template:Cite news</ref> Acceding to demands by the army chief of staff, he ultimately resigned a day later, on 2 April 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following his resignation, Bouteflika resumed his reclusiveness and made no public appearances due to failing health.<ref name=BBCobit>Template:Cite web</ref> Bouteflika spent his final years in a medicalised state residence in Zéralda, a suburb of Algiers.<ref name=BBCobit/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also had a private residence in El Biar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life and death
In November 2005, Bouteflika was admitted to a hospital in France, reportedly had a gastric ulcer hemorrhage, and discharged three weeks later.<ref>Aomar Ouali, "Bouteflika 'completely healed'" Template:Webarchive, Associated Press (news24.com), 18 December 2005.</ref> However, the length of time for which Bouteflika remained virtually incommunicado led to rumours that he was critically ill with stomach cancer.<ref>middle-east-online.com Template:Webarchive, no author, date 15 December 2005</ref> He checked into the hospital again in April 2006.<ref>"Algeria leader in French hospital" Template:Webarchive, BBC News, 20 April 2006.</ref>
A leaked diplomatic cable revealed that, by the end of 2008, Bouteflika had developed stomach cancer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2013, Bouteflika had a debilitating stroke.<ref name="akef">Template:Cite news</ref> A journalist, Hichem Aboud, was pursued for "threatening national security, territorial integrity, and normal management of the Republic's institutions" and the newspapers for which he wrote were censored, because he wrote that the President had returned from Val-de-Grâce in a "comatose state" and had characterized Saïd Bouteflika as the puppet-master running the administration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 17 September 2021 Bouteflika died at his home in Zéralda from cardiac arrest at the age of 84.<ref name="NYTobit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His death was announced by a statement from the office of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He had been in failing health since he had a stroke in 2013.<ref name=BBCobit/><ref name=NYTobit/> President Tebboune declared three days of national mourning after his death.<ref name=Houston>Template:Cite web</ref> He was buried at the El Alia Cemetery on 19 September in a subdued ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Criticism
Bouteflika's rule was marred by allegations of fraud and vote-tampering at elections from 1999 to 2019.<ref name="occrp">Template:Cite web</ref> He had already been convicted in 1983 of corruption. Per Suisse secrets he held an account, during much of his presidency with a maximum balance worth over 1.4 million Swiss francs ($1.1 million) along with other family members.<ref name="occrp"/>
Awards and honours
Awards
- In 2004 he received Olympic Order presented by Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
State honours
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Notes
References
Further reading
External links
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