The Movement of Society for Peace ( ar, حركة مجتمع السلم, Harakat mujtamaâ as-Silm; ), sometimes known by its shortened form Hamas () is an Islamic party in
Algeria
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, led by
Mahfoud Nahnah until his death in 2003. Its current leader is
Abderrazak Makri. It is aligned with the international
Muslim Brotherhood.
Roots in the Muslim Brotherhood
The
Muslim Brotherhood reached
Algeria
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during the later years of the
French colonial presence in the country (1830–1962). Sheikh
Ahmad Sahnoun
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
led the organization in Algeria between 1953 and 1954 during the French
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
. Brotherhood members and sympathizers took part in the uprising against France in 1954-1962, but the movement was marginalized during the
FLN one-party rule
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
which was installed at independence in 1962. Islamic forces however remained active in religious education,
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s and religious associations, including sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood. Brotherhood activists generally refrained from confronting the regime, which did not tolerate independent
opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...
, but sometimes protested the government and generally argued for a greater role for
Islam in the country's politics. Muslims also called for increased
Arabization of education and the state bureaucracy, and gained a foothold through heavy state backing for the early Arabization programs under
Presidents
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 ...
and
Houari Boumédiène
Houari Boumédiène ( ar, ; ALA-LC: ''Hawwārī Būmadyan''; born Mohammed Ben Brahim Boukherouba; 23 August 1932 – 27 December 1978) was an Algerian politician and army colonel who served as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Al ...
. The reformist-Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, in particular, was strengthened through the recruitment of
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
teachers from other Arab countries, particularly
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, which is the Brotherhood's main stronghold.
History of the party
When a
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...
was introduced in Algeria in the early 1990s, the Muslim Brotherhood formed the Movement for the Society of Peace (MSP), led by
Mahfoud Nahnah until his death in 2003 (he was succeeded by present party leader
Boudjerra Soltani). The party was initially known as the ''Movement for the Islamic Society'', and abbreviated in Arabic as Hamas, but following legal bans on religiously founded parties, the name was changed (the abbreviation Hamas still remains in use).
A dissident wing of Brotherhood-inspired Islamists led by
Abdallah Djaballah formed their own party,
El Nahda, which later split to create
El Islah, advocating a more hardline stand towards the government. (Neither is supported by the Muslim Brotherhood's international organization, which recognizes MSP/Hamas as its Algerian wing.) The Muslim Brotherhood in Algeria did not join the
Front islamique du salut
The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...
(FIS), which emerged as the leading Islamist group in the
1990 local and
1991 parliamentary elections, although the rapidly growing FIS did attract some of its supporters.
In 1992, a military
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
cancelled elections which the FIS was on the verge of winning, and banned the organization. The Brotherhood condemned the coup, but refused to join the resulting violent uprising by FIS sympathizers and the
Armed Islamic Groups
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from french: Groupe Islamique Armé; ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, al-Jamāʿa l-ʾIslāmiyya l-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian gove ...
(GIA) against the Algerian state and military. Instead, the group urged a peaceful resolution to the conflict and cooperation with the state, which for a time caused some strains with the international Muslim Brotherhood, where many sympathized with the Islamist insurgency.
The MSP/Hamas thus remained a legal political organization, and ran in all elections organized by the state while the ex-FIS and other rebel forces urged a boycott. In retaliation for the party's pro-government stance, several members were assassinated by extremist militants during the war. Since 1997, the party has been supportive of the presidencies of
Liamine Zeroual and
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ar, عبد العزيز بوتفليقة, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Būtaflīqa ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as President of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019 ...
, and has participated in government.
In parliament and government, the party has tried to strengthen conservative and Islamic trends in state and society, e.g. in opposing secularizing changes in the
Algerian Family Code
The Algerian Family Code (french: Code de Famille, ar, قانون الأسرة), enacted on June 9, 1984, specifies the laws relating to familial relations in Algeria. It includes strong elements of Islamic law which have brought it praise from I ...
. It has argued in favor of
amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
and
reconciliation efforts towards former Islamist guerrillas, while simultaneously condemning violence and supporting the state in its confrontation with radical groups still fighting, such as
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي, Tanẓīm al-Qā'idah fī Bilād al-Maghrib al-Islāmī), or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims to ...
(formerly
GSPC).
Electoral participation
In the first round of the
1991 parliamentary elections (Algeria's first multi-party elections) the MSP/Hamas gained 5,3% of the popular vote, becoming the fourth-largest party in parliament. The movement was significantly weaker than the non-Brotherhood FIS, which became the largest party with 47%. The second round of elections were cancelled by a military coup in January 1992, and the FIS was banned.
During the civil war
The MSP/Hamas protested the coup, but also clearly condemned the
Islamist insurgency that ensued. The party remained committed to the
political process
Political opportunity theory, also known as the political process theory or political opportunity structure, is an approach of social movements that is heavily influenced by political sociology. It argues that success or failure of social movements ...
, arguing in favor of peaceful reconciliation, an amnesty for Islamist fighters and a return to
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
, while criticizing both sides of the conflict. In 1995, Sheikh Nahnah participated in the presidential elections as main contender against the military-backed winning candidate,
Liamine Zeroual. He finished second with 25.38% of the popular vote.
In the 1997 parliamentary elections, the party gained 14.8% of the vote, finishing as the second-largest party in parliamen
and subsequently joining the pro-Zeroual governing coalition under leadership of the
National Rally for Democracy (Algeria), RND.
Presidential alliance under Bouteflika
The party would later support Zeroual's successor as
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
from 1999,
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ar, عبد العزيز بوتفليقة, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Būtaflīqa ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as President of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019 ...
. In the first parliamentary elections under Bouteflika, the MSP received 7% of the vote in
the 2002 elections, gaining 38 members in the parliament. In the
2004 presidential elections, the party endorsed and were part of a coalition supporting the reelection of Bouteflika, and it has remained committed to the three-party "presidential coalition" (together with the secular
FLN and the
National Rally for Democracy (Algeria), RND parties). As part of the presidential coalition, the party has argued for conservative values and the Islamization of society, as well as supported Bouteflika's projects to grant amnesty to former Islamist militants.
In the
2007 parliamentary elections, the MSP again ran as a member of the presidential bloc, earning 9.64% of the popular vote and becoming the third-largest party of the parliament, with 52 members. The party further supported constitutional changes in 2008, designed to allow President Bouteflika to run for a third term. Rather than launching its own candidate, it campaigned in favor of Bouteflika's candidacy in the
2009 presidential election.
Green Algeria Alliance
In 2012 it however turned to founding the
Islamist coalition
Green Algeria Alliance, together with Islah and Nahda. Jointly participating in the
2012 legislative election, the three Islamist parties had to suffer losses achieving only 6.22% of the popular vote and 49 seats. On 25 January 2014, the MSP announced to boycott the
2014 presidential election.
The party did not participate in the
2019 presidential election. A former member of the party, former Tourism Minister
Abdelkader Bengrina, started his own party, the ''
el-Bina'', and received 1.5 million votes, or 17.4%, on a turnout of 40%.
References
External links
* (in Arabic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Movement of Society for Peace
1990 establishments in Algeria
Algerian Civil War
Islamic political parties in Algeria
Algerian nationalism
Islamism in Algeria
Muslim Brotherhood
Sunni Islamic political parties
Political parties established in 1990
Political parties in Algeria
Social conservative parties