The Socialist Forces Front (; ) is a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

political party, mainly supported by

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. The FFS is a member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

and the

Progressive Alliance The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of progressive and social democratic political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...

. It led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Algerian government from 1963 to 1964.

History and profile

Establishment and rebellion (1963)

The party was formed by

Hocine Aït Ahmed Hocine Aït Ahmed (‎; 20 August 1926 – 23 December 2015) was an Algerian politician. He was founder and leader until 2009 of the historical political opposition in Algeria. The Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium, one of the largest stadiums by ...

on 29 September 1963 in the city of

Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou or Thizi Wezzu (, Kabyle: Tizi Wezzu) is a city in north central Algeria, and capital of Tizi Ouzou Province and Tizi Ouzou District. It is among the largest cities in Algeria. It is the second most populous city in the Kabylia reg ...

to oppose Ben Bella's government. Following the party's creation, Aït Ahmed began an armed rebellion and captured a number of towns in Kabylia. The Ben Bella government, aided by the National Liberation Army, swiftly took control of the dissident towns during a mostly bloodless confrontation. The FFS rebels were not supported by the people and were pushed into the mountains by the government's army. Preferring to avoid direct conflict, the FFS and its soldiers retracted into the mountains from where they could launch guerrilla tactics. The rebellion was defeated in 1964 and Hocine Aït Ahmed was arrested and sentenced to death. The 1963 conflict resulted in 10 months of armed confrontation in the region, leaving more than four hundred dead, and most of the FLN leaders from Kabylia and the eastern provinces were either executed or forced into exile. Hocine Aït Ahmed escaped prison in 1966 and fled to Switzerland.

Party legalization (1990)

The party was legalised in 1990. It however boycotted the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and 2007 legislative elections and the 2009 presidential election "calling it systematic electoral fraud in favour of the ruling parties"."Algérie : le FFS ira aux législatives"
. ''Le Figaro''. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.

2012 legislative election

Though former Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali urged a boycott on the grounds that the election would be "a foregone conclusion", the party decided to participate in the 2012 legislative election. Apart from international monitors being invited to observe the process, Algerian

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

leader Louisa Hanoune, a quite successful candidate in the 2009 presidential elections, had announced to work towards an alliance of the two parties.L'Expression – Le Quotidien – Louisa Hanoune candidate à Alger
. Lexpressiondz.com. Retrieved on 10 May 2012. Hocine Aït Ahmed wrote to the

Council of the Nation The Council of the Nation () is the upper house of the Algerian Parliament. It is composed of 144 members, 2/3 of which are elected indirectly and 1/3 of which are appointed by the president of Algeria. Abdelkader Bensalah was elected as Presid ...

saying that "participation in these elections is a tactical necessity for the FFS, which falls in line with (its) construction strategy of peaceful democratic alternative to this despotic regime, corrupt and destructive. he purpose of the partydoes not lie in a quota of seats to reach utin mobilising political yand peaceful yin our party and our people." With an electoral result of mere 2.47%, the party reached 27 seats making it the second-largest opposition power after the Islamist

Green Algeria Alliance The Green Algeria Alliance (; ), short Green Alliance was an Islamism, Islamist coalition of political parties, created on 7 March 2012 for the Algerian legislative election, 2012. It consisted of the Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas), Islami ...

References

External links