Word: algerias
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...Algeria, the returns affirmed President Chadli Bendjedid's commitment to the development of a multiparty democracy in a region characterized by dictatorships and feudal monarchies. For his efforts, Bendjedid is being urged by the fundamentalists to dissolve the parliament, which currently seats only members of the ruling party, and hold national elections. "Any attempt to resort to trickery," warns Said Sadi, secretary-general of the Rally for Culture and Democracy, a moderate, secular party that made a poor showing, "will inevitably finish in the streets with helmets against turbans...
...Arab world. The Algerian election represents the first time that Muslim fundamentalists have obtained a majority in a free vote in an Arab country. While some Arab leaders are flirting with reforms, most continue to cloak their disdain for democracy with self-serving warnings about the threat of fundamentalism. Algeria's returns are certain to support convictions that even a little democracy is too risky a gamble...
...distinguish between the religious fanatics who garner headlines with terrorist attacks and the far more numerous Muslims who seek a greater say in their countries' policies. Anti-Islamic attitudes also tend to obscure the import of the fundamentalists' electoral gains. In Jordan's elections last November and now in Algeria, fundamentalist organizations offered the only strong vehicle for voters to register a protest against government policies...
Many Algerian voters were not endorsing radical fundamentalism when they voted for the Islamic Salvation Front. Rather, they found common cause with the front's president, Abbassi Madani, who called the ruling F.L.N. a "party of failure." Promised Madani: "We guarantee the freedom of all who have ideas on Algeria's future." While such words are encouraging, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini promoted a similar message before he returned to Iran in 1979 from exile in France...
Madani's party has put forward no concrete proposal to deal with Algeria's sagging economy. There is no guarantee that he can control the radicals, like those who took to the streets last week chanting, "Oh, Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!" And his party's aim to establish the Islamic legal code, known as the shari'a, conjures visions of public amputations. Middle- class women are particularly anxious: Madani has proposed that women be paid to stay home and not compete in the tight job market...