President of Algeria from 1979 to 1992
Chadli Bendjedid
(
Arabic
:
??????? ?? ????
;
ALA-LC
:
ash-Sh?dhil? bin Jad?d
; 14 April 1929 ? 6 October 2012) was an Algerian nationalist politician who served as the
third
President of Algeria
. His presidential term of office ran from 9 February 1979 to 11 January 1992.
A combatant during the
Algerian War
, he was a member of the Revolutionary Council from 1965 to 1976 and was appointed
Colonel
in 1969.
He was appointed Secretary General of the
National Liberation Front
(FLN) in January 1979 and was elected president the following month. Bendjedid would win re-elections without competition in
1984
and
1989
. He resigned from the presidency in January 1992 following a disputed election and military coup, leading to the
Algerian Civil War
.
He remained under house arrest until 1999 and died of cancer at the age of 83.
Career
[
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]
Early life and career
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Bendjedid was born in
Bouteldja
on 14 April 1929.
[1]
He served in the French Army as a
non-commissioned officer
and fought in
Indochina
.
[1]
He defected to the
National Liberation Front
(FLN) at the beginning of the
Algerian War of Independence
in 1954. A protege of
Houari Boumediene
, Bendjedid was rewarded with the command of the Constantine Military Region
Oran, Algeria
in 1964.
[1]
After independence he rose through the ranks, becoming head of the
2nd Military Region
in 1964 and Colonel in 1969.
[2]
He commanded the 2nd Military Region from 1964 to 1978, and there supervised the evacuation of French military forces stationed at
Mers el-Kebir
in conformity with the
Evian Accords
, and the monitoring of the frontier between Algeria and Morocco which was the site of significant tension.
Ascent to presidency
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Bendjedid was
minister of defense
from November 1978 to February 1979 and became president following the death of Boumedienne. Bendjedid was a compromise candidate who came to power after the party leadership and presidency was contested at the fourth FLN congress held on 27
-
31 January 1979. The most likely to succeed Boumediene were Mohammad Salah Yahiaoui and
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
. The latter had served as a foreign secretary at the
United Nations
for sixteen years. He was a prominent member of the
Oujda group
and regarded as a pro-Western liberal. Yahiaoui was closely affiliated with the communists, permitting the
Parti de l'Avant-Garde Socialiste
(PAGS) to acquire jurisdiction over the mass trade union and youth organizations.
[1]
In office, Bendjedid reduced the state's role in the
economy
and eased government surveillance of citizens. In the late 1980s, with the economy failing due to rapidly falling
oil
prices, tension rose between elements of the regime who supported Bendjedid's economic liberalization policies, and those who wanted a return to the statist model. In October 1988, youth marches protesting the regime's austerity policies and shouting slogans against Bendjedid, evolved into massive rioting now known as the
1988 October Riots
which spread to Oran, Annaba and other cities; the military's brutal suppression of the rioters left several hundred dead.
[3]
Perhaps as a political survival strategy, Bendjedid then called for and began to implement a transition towards multi-party
democracy
.
[3]
However, in 1991 the military
intervened
to stop elections from bringing the
Islamist
Front Islamique du Salut
(FIS) to power, forcing Bendjedid out of office and sparking a long and bloody
Algerian Civil War
.
[4]
Post-presidency life
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Bendjedid was put under house arrest in
Oran
but freed in 1999 after the rise to the presidency of
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
. In a 2002 interview, he revealed his willingness to accept the results of the 1991 poll and work with the FIS while avoiding their takeover of all government institutions. He believed the
constitution
gave him the power to do so, but he failed to win over the support of the military establishment.
[5]
He returned to the public eye in late 2008 when he gave a controversial speech at a conference in Al-Tarif, his hometown.
[6]
The publication of his memoirs was announced on 1 November 2012, coinciding with the 58th anniversary of the outbreak of the War of National Liberation.
[7]
Illness and death
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Bendjedid was hospitalized in
Paris
in January 2012 for cancer treatment and returned to hospital again in May and October 2012.
[8]
On 3 October 2012, Bendjedid was admitted to the intensive care unit of a military hospital in Ain-Naadja in Algiers. State-run media announced that he died of cancer on 6 October 2012.
[9]
[10]
He was buried at the
El Alia Cemetery
.
Honours
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National honour
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References
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External links
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