Mohamed Boudiaf
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Mohamed Boudiaf | |
---|---|
محمد بوضياف | |
Chairman of the High Council of State | |
In office 16 January 1992 – 29 June 1992 | |
Prime Minister | Sid Ahmed Ghozali |
Preceded by | Abdelmalek Benhabyles (Acting) |
Succeeded by | Ali Kafi |
Personal details | |
Born | PRS (1962–1979) | June 23, 1919
Spouse | Fatiha Boudiaf |
Mohamed Boudiaf (23 June 1919 – 29 June 1992,
Early years in the nationalist movement
Mohamed Boudiaf was born in
When Messali decided to dissolve the OS, his rivals combined with stalwarts of the guerrilla strategy to form the CRUA, a breakout committee designed to lay the groundwork for revolutionary war. Boudiaf was among them, after falling out with Messali, whom he accused of authoritarian tendencies. The CRUA - PPA/MTLD rivalry quickly spiralled towards violence, and would continue during the Algerian War until the PPA/MTLD (then reorganized as the Mouvement National Algérien, MNA) was largely destroyed. In July 1954, the CRUA-aligned Boudiaf survived an assassination attempt by his former comrades-in-arms, wounded and left for dead on an Algiers sidewalk.[1]
Algerian war of independence
The CRUA re-emerged as the
After independence: opposition and exile
On independence, internal conflict racked the FLN, which split into rival factions as French forces withdrew. A military-political alliance between
The increasingly marginalized Boudiaf protested these developments, and founded a clandestine opposition party, the
Return as head of state
In February 1992, after a 27-year exile in Kenitra, 15 miles north of Morocco's capital Rabat, the military invited him back to become chairman of the High Council of State (HCE) of Algeria, a figurehead body for the military junta, following the annulment of the election results (see Algerian Civil War). He quickly accepted, and was instantly signed into the post. Publicly, he was presented as a leader exiled for too long to be tainted by the violence and corruption of Algeria's internal post-revolutionary politics, but the downside was that he was little known to most of the Algerian public. However, his calls for comprehensive reform and an end to military domination of politics instilled hope, and he quickly gained some popularity, even if many still associated him with the military clique that effectively ruled Algeria in his name.
Even as head of state, Boudiaf was completely dependent on the forces that had brought him to power, and his powers were circumscribed by the military and security establishment. In addition, the country continued to drift towards civil war, with increasing Islamist violence in the regions surrounding Algiers and brutal military countermeasures both escalating the situation. The political scene remained chaotic, the economy was fraying, and Boudiaf seemed unable to effectively carry out the reforms he had promised.
Assassination and legacy
On June 29, 1992, Boudiaf's term as
The
Boudiaf was survived by his wife, Fatiha. She remains insistent that his death has not been properly investigated.
Honours
National honour
- Grand Master of the National Order of Merit
See also
References
- ^ Jacques Duchemin, Histoire du F. L. N., Editions Mimouni, Algiers 2006
- ^ Ottaway, Professor Marina; Ottaway, David; Ottaway, Marina (December 15, 1970). "Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution". University of California Press – via Google Books.
- ^ Horne, Alistair. A Savage War of Peace. p. 538.
- ^ Robert Fisk, The Great War For Civilisation; The Conquest of the Middle East (Fourth Estate, 2005), pp. 665-669.
Literature
- Achour Cheurfi, La classe politique algérienne, de 1900 à nos jours. Dictionnaire biographique (Casbah Editions, 2nd edition, Algiers 2006)