ALGERIA: Algerians living in slums in the country's north say they hope the outcome of presidential election will bring more stability
Record ID:
574338
ALGERIA: Algerians living in slums in the country's north say they hope the outcome of presidential election will bring more stability
- Title: ALGERIA: Algerians living in slums in the country's north say they hope the outcome of presidential election will bring more stability
- Date: 15th April 2014
- Summary: CHLEF, ALGERIA (APRIL 9, 2014) (REUTERS) HOUSES IN SLUM VARIOUS OF WOMEN STANDING BETWEEN HOMES 3 (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHLEF RESIDENT, TWATI HALIMA, SAYING: "It has been thirty years that we are here. The government comes and registers each time but there is nothing new, and this time they came and said that they'll do it after the elections, so we are waiting, and we are here suffering from the cold and rain, we don't even have toilets. We and our children are all suffering. Come with me to see and I am really sorry, look what we use as a toilet; a bucket. And that's the oven where we cook, this is the toilet and this is the oven, that's it my brother, this is the house we sleep in it." VARIOUS OF TWO CHILDREN STANDING CHLEF RESIDENT MAGHARI HABIBI'S HUSBAND STANDING NEAR HOME CHLEF RESIDENT MAGHARI HABIBI AND HER HUSBAND SHOWING THEIR HOME AND COMPLAINING ABOUT THE RAIN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHLEF RESIDENT, MAGHARI HABIBI, SAYING: "I suffered and suffered and suffered to be honest, I lost my teeth in here, I suffered there is no God but Allah, Mohammad is the messenger of God. I am suffering; I suffer in summer and in winter, from bugs and mosquitoes. There is no God but Allah, Mohammad is the messenger of God." HABIBI AND HER HUSBAND TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHLEF RESIDENT, MAGHARI HABIBI, SAYING: "I vote and I'll vote for Bouteflika because he fixed the country, and he gave houses but the government didn't apply." MAN WALKING BETWEEN BUILDINGS WOMAN WALKING WITH CHILDREN ALGIERS, ALGERIA (APRIL 9, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AIN NAADJA SLUM VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AROUND SLUM AND CHILDREN PLAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALGIERS RESIDENT, AMINE KERCHACHE, SAYING: "The ballot paper does not have any meaning and every person has the freedom to vote or abstain. Since he became president Abdelaziz Bouteflika didn't do anything to Ain Naadja. We hope that he would consider it because it is too much. Yes, I will vote because in the past fifteen years the system worked and there are people who moved from their sheds and we are waiting for our turn." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AROUND SLUM AND CHILDREN PLAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALGIERS RESIDENT, BELAINE MOUAD, SAYING: "I don't have any hope in anyone, or a new President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. I don't have any hope because Bouteflika didn't do anything in fifteen years in Gid Constantine there are 15 slums and 10,000 sheds and he didn't touch anyone of them." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN SLUM
- Embargoed: 30th April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Algeria
- Country: Algeria
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA2OVSIVF4A7MKVEPT0MKEGL3S0
- Story Text: Algerians living in slums in the country's north have said they hope the outcome of the coming presidential election on Thursday (April 17) will bring more stability to the nation, but some are doubtful there will be any change.
For years the people living in shacks and ramshackle flats have waited for word about a new state house from President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's government in exchange for their homes in the dusty streets.
They say officials have promised more with each election, but nothing has been done for them as yet.
Twati Halima, a mother of two and resident in the Clef slums, says she has been waiting for her situation to improve for 30 years.
"It has been thirty years that we are here. The government comes and registers each time but there is nothing new," said the 37-year-old.
"This time they came and said that they'll do it after the elections, so we are waiting, and we are here suffering from the cold and rain, we don't even have toilets. We and our children are all suffering. Come with me to see and I am really sorry, look what we use as a toilet; a bucket. And that's the oven where we cook, this is the toilet and this is the oven, that's it my brother, this is the house we sleep in it," she added walking through her narrow living quarters.
Even more than a decade after the end of the conflict with Islamist militants, Algeria's dark years of violence are fresh enough to keep people wary of change and hopeful for a share in the country's energy wealth.
Unlike in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, where frustration over economic inequality, corruption and political stagnation boiled over into rebellion, Algeria has escaped the turmoil in North Africa.
With the support of the powerful Front de Liberation Nationale party (FLN), which has dominated Algerian politics since independence from France, most observers say Bouteflika faces little challenge from the five election rivals.
Observers say Algeria is still mostly being governed though behind-the-scenes manoeuvring between FLN clans and the military, an establishment known as "Le Pouvoir", French for "The Power", which has left little room for strong opposition.
Anti-government protests are still rare in Algeria, but the main rival opposition parties have joined forces to boycott Thursday's election, which they say is unfairly tilted in FLN's favour.
A small movement called Barakat or "Enough" has been staging weekly demonstrations in Algiers and in other cities against a fourth term for Bouteflika, but has drawn only small numbers.
More common are sporadic protests over high unemployment, housing, services and economic opportunities.
But Bouteflika's government looks set to win and avoid more instability.
48-year-old Maghari Habibi has lived in the Clef slums for four decades and says she'll vote for Bouteflika with the hope that he will improve the housing situation.
"I suffered and suffered and suffered to be honest, I lost my teeth in here, I suffered there is no God but Allah, Mohammad is the messenger of God. I am suffering; I suffer in summer and in winter, from bugs and mosquitoes," she said.
"I vote and I'll vote for Bouteflika because he fixed the country, and he gave houses but the government didn't apply," he added.
In the Ain Naadja slum, residents fret their vote will have little influence. They complain they have waited for years for housing from the government. But few are willing to talk of real change, instead looking to gain a little more from those already in power.
24-year-old Amine Kerchache, a father of one said he hopes the community's needs will be considered.
"The ballot paper does not have any meaning and every person has the freedom to vote or abstain. Since he became president Abdelaziz Bouteflika didn't do anything to Ain Naadja. We hope that he would consider it because it is too much. Yes, I will vote because in the past fifteen years the system worked and there are people who moved from their sheds and we are waiting for our turn," he said.
"I don't have any hope in anyone, or a new President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. I don't have any hope because Bouteflika didn't do anything in fifteen years in Gid Constantine there are 15 slums and 10,000 sheds and he didn't touch anyone of them," said another resident, 50-year-old Belaine Mouad.
Bouteflika, a 77-year-old veteran of Algeria's independence war, has no serious rivals for re-election in Thursday's ballot, but he has not campaigned himself and has only rarely spoken in public since suffering a stroke last year.
For opposition leaders, though, the re-election bid by an ailing leader is the last gasp of the old guard of FLN party elites and army generals who see themselves as the guardians of stability and have mostly resisted change.
Critics say Algeria needs hefty reforms to open up an economy heavily dependent on energy revenues and to attract more foreign investors, who are wary of the restrictions and bureaucracy of the largely state-controlled system.
Around 200,000 people were killed during Algeria's 1990s war with Islamist militants. The unrest has left many Algerians deeply wary of instability.
Wary of potential social unrest in 2011, Bouteflika hiked spending on subsidies, housing and credits and job creation programs to ease tensions. With nearly 200 billion USD in reserves from energy income, Algeria still has a large financial cushion.
Bouteflika's opponents say subsidies are a short-term remedy that leave the country vulnerable to a sharp fall in oil and gas prices, especially if new bidding rounds fail to attract the foreign investment that is badly needed to revive stagnant output. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None