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The APRM in Algeria: a critical assessment

Was the APRM process in Algeria a success?

Authors: M. Boumghar (ed)
Publisher: Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project, 2009

Full text of document

Algeria was one of the initiators of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). This report is about the APRM self assessment by Algeria. It states that although the assessment can be described as having been a technical success, it faced some structural problems due to lack of democracy and respect for public freedoms and human rights, as well as the tight controls on the media, associations and trade unions.

The report attributes the technical success to the backing of the president and the political will shown by the National Governing Council (NGC) to successfully implement APRM in Algeria. The country lacks a tradition of dialogue between the government, the constituents and members of civil society and is excessively centralized with all decisions being taken in the capital.

The report highlights the following structural problems to the assessment:

  • the public does not have access to documentation on the implementation of the process making research and transparency very difficult
  • the NGC excludes associations and independent trade unions which are considered politically sensitive
  • the report on the implementation of the Plan of Action reveals that the NGC lacked public policy impact studies and treated certain sensitive issues superficially.

The report recommends that the Algerian government should:

  • Provide the public with access to information on the APRM implementation process
  • fully involve both houses of parliament on APRM issues
  • Raise awareness in the private and public media on governance and APRM issues
  • Organize an inclusive, open,democratic national debate on all governance issues, accessible to the public media and all political parties and civil society
  • Form local commissions on governance including all civil society stakeholders to serve as a forum for dialogue with government on matters of local interest.

The report suggests that to implement the recommendations, it is desirable to:

  • permit civil society groups to acquire legal recognition to broaden effective legal recourse to protect the rights of associations and trade unions
  • liberalize rules on associations, trade unions and the audiovisual media
  • reinforce respect for human rights and allow public, democratic debate on the state of emergency and its impact on the effective exercise of civil liberties.