High State Council (Algeria)

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HIGH STATE COUNCIL (ALGERIA)

Algerian interim executive, 1992–1994.

When the first round of parliamentary elections on 26 December 1991 made it clear that the Islamist FIS (Front Islamique du Salut) would gain majority control of the Algerian parliament if the second round of elections were to proceed as scheduled on 16 January 1992, a bitter dispute broke out within the government of President Chadli Bendjedid. The president favored continuing the electoral process whereas the military and other ardent secularists wanted the process terminated. The military forced Chadli to dissolve the sitting parliament, where the speaker—his constitutional successor—sat, and then forced the president himself to resign on 11 January, leaving the Algerian state without an executive branch. Three days later a five-man Haut Comité d'État (High State Council; HCE) was appointed to serve as a collective transitional executive until the end of 1993 when Chadli's term would officially expire. The most powerful member of the council was Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar. Others included Ali Kafi, the influential head of the Moudjahidine organization, Tedjini Haddam, Mohamed Ali Haroun, and Mohamed Boudiaf. Boudiaf, one of the few surviving chefs historiques of the War of Independence, was invited to return from twenty-eight years of exile to chair the council.

From the outset the HCE moved aggressively to dismantle the FIS and other Islamist organizations, rounding up and imprisoning many of their leaders and members. The result was escalating violence against security forces and governmental institutions. Boudiaf, an ardent secularist, announced a program for authentic democratization, major economic reform, and thorough investigation of alleged corruption within the ruling establishment. On 29 June 1991, while giving a speech at Annaba, he was assassinated. Many assume the murder was orchestrated by the military because of its unease with Boudiaf's priorities, though some in the establishment blame Islamists offended by Boudiaf's secularism.

Ali Kafi was named chair of the HCE after Boudiaf's assassination. He appointed as prime minister Belaïd Abdessalam who, because of dissent over economic policies, was subsequently replaced by Redha Malek in August 1993. While Kafi in May 1993 announced a forthcoming constitutional referendum to determine what institution was to succeed the HCE when its mandate expired, security and political considerations prohibited such a solution. Ultimately the military, coming together in January 1994 as the High Security Commission, appointed Liamine Zeroual head of state. He had succeeded the ailing Nezzar as defense minister the preceding summer. The Haut Comité d'État was dissolved.