Presidential elections scheduled in April will fuel a flareup in violence in Algeria, exiled Islamist leader Abassi Madani said Saturday, renewing a call for a second republic to be set up to replace a dying regime. âThe man elected in April will have the backing of the army and his mission will be to push the country deeper into violence,â Madani charged in an interview with AFP in Mecca where he joined the annual hajj pilgrimage. âThe current regime no longer has any reason to stay in power. It is near its end because ... it has no legitimacy and bases its authority on might,â the head of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) charged. âThis regime is responsible for more than 95 percent of the acts of violence,â which have left more than 100,000 people dead since 1992 according to official figures.
| I'm no lover of the Algerian regime, but I'd say GAI had something to do with the violence, in addition to GSPC. |
Madani said he opposed holding elections under emergency rule adding that those who run for office âwill regret itâ.
âThe regime is no longer valid, it is rotten. And we have put forward an alternative,â which would usher in a âsecond republicâ after that set up on independence from France in 1962, he said.
| An Islamic "second republic." |
Madani announced on January 15 a peace initiative under which the presidential elections would be delayed and a ceasefire put into place followed by a referendum on a new constitution. âThe authorities did not answer our appeal for an end to the violence because bloodshed and tragedy suits them. My initiative offers the Algerian people the chance to take back the initiative and sovereignty, but that does not please the current regime,â said the 72-year-old exile.
| If he can offer a ceasefire, that implies he's in control of the gunnies. Tell me again why they let him out of jug? |
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