The EU and the Somali Conflict

The fighting that has since occurred between the TFG, with the support of Ethiopia, and the Islamic Courts has changed the political landscape in Somalia. No one will lament the demise of the Courts in which radical Islamists had gained the upper hand. But the problem remains unaddressed in the same terms as before: only a process of dialogue and national reconciliation can save Somalia from the curse of recurrent chaos and violence.

The Role of the EU Institutions :
(1) The European Council :
The council adopted the following conclusions:
the UN Resolutions :
The council reiterates the need for a genuine political process , as set out in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1744 (2007) .

The council recalls its ongoing concern at the situation in Somalia and stresses the importance of implementing the United Nations security council resolution 1744 (2007) in order to address the political security and Humanitarian challenges faced in Somalia .

The AMISOM :
The council reaffirms its support for the African union mission in Somalia ( AMISOM) in creating the conditions for the stabilization of the country and an early withdrawal of Ethiopian forces.

The council recalls the EU's contribution of 15 million Euros to the financing of AMISOM and its provision of advisory to bilateral contributions from EU member states. The council calls on all international partners to provide further support to AMISOM and on the African troop contributing countries .

The council welcomes current efforts to establish the African union mission in Somalia in order to support political Dialogue and create conditions for the stabilization of the country and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Somalia . The EU will consider possible logistical and Technical support for AMISOM as appropriate .

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG):
The Council welcomes the talks between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Ethiopia and the Hawiya leadership committee. The Council encourages all parties to show continued restraint and to consolidate the cessation of hostilities, paving the way for comprehensive cease-fire arrangements, including mechanisms for disarmament, de-mobilization and reintegration. The EU remains ready to assist in this process if requested.

Tensions in Relations:
Although the European Union's General Affairs and External Relations Council has called for a reconciliation process and dialogue to include all sectors of Somali society. The Somali government, however, said while help was welcome it was not willing to accept "any conditions". the government said that the EU had helped the government since its inception in 2004 - the EU is the largest donor to the TFG - "but lately they seem to be putting obstacles in our way".

 This came after a senior European Union security official has warned that Ethiopian and Somali military forces there may have committed war crimes and that donor countries could be considered complicit if they do nothing to stop them.
The Way to solve the crises :
The EU sees three main challenges that need to be addressed.

(1)Security:
It is crucial that Ethiopian troops - the current guarantor of stability and TFG power - withdraw quickly. The longer Ethiopian troops stay, the greater the risk the TFG will lose support and credibility. Without doubt the Jihadi elements of the courts that are still active will exploit the Ethiopian presence to launch guerrilla warfare and terrorist action.

Considering the heavily charged history of international military presence in Somalia, some basic parameters must guide the deployment of an international force. Its mandate should focus on ceasefire monitoring and support for the building of effective Somali security forces. This mission should be limited in time, and composed of African troops including contingents from Muslim countries.

(2)Political challenge:
The political challenge is even more crucial. The rise of the Islamic Courts can, to a great extent, be explained by the rejection of power sharing which gave too much weight to warlords.
The Transitional Federal Charter should constitute the basis and framework of such a process. This should pave the way for the drafting and adoption of a new constitution. Such a constitution would almost certainly have to have some sort of federal architecture.

(3) Rebuilding the country:
The third challenge is that of rebuilding the country. There is an urgent need for recovery and development assistance and a concerted plan for reconstruction. The EU, as Somalia's biggest aid donor, can play an active part in this process.

(4) the Regional dimension:
Finally, the regional dimension needs to be factored in as the fourth element in the Somali equation. Up until now, Somalia has primarily suffered from external interference and intervention. At the same time, the stability of the Horn of Africa can be ensured only if there is peace and security in Somalia.

Role of humanitarian relief
organizations in Somali crisis

Renewal of the Somali crisis has led to many dangerous repercussions to the civil inhabitants. Most of populations fled from Mogadishu to the neighboring countries in addition to the human losses among civilians, the matter which raised many questions about the role of international organizations in the field of humanitarian relief such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UNICEF in the Somali crisis.

First: Humanitarian repercussions of political crisis:
The armed conflicts resulted from the political crises witnessed by the countries due to fighting for the authority or foreign attack lead to many humanitarian crises. Such crises topped by departure of civil populations whether inside or outside borders of countries. Although there is no agreement to organize rights of displaced under the armed conflicts such as refugees, but they enjoy the protection by virtue of national laws and human rights law as well as protection of the humanitarian international law.

Respect of the fighting parties to rules of humanitarian international law which guarantees protection of civilians leads to prevent departure and provide protection during said departure. Major rules within this framework are:
. Prohibition of targeting civilians and civil properties.
. Prohibition of starving civil populations or destroying properties necessary for populations.
. Prohibition of mass punishment in the form of houses destructions.
. Rules allowing the arrival of relief trucks to civilians.

The international humanitarian relief organizations play a key role in applying the aforementioned rules. For example, the International Red Cross Committee seeks to guarantee providing aid and protection to victims of armed conflicts and internal violence, according to the mandate given to it by parties in the Geneva agreement and its two additional protocols.

It is noteworthy that the humanitarian international law bans direct attacks against civilians or civil targets, the attacks which do not distinguish between civil or military targets (random attacks) and attacks which result in improper effects on civilians and civil targets although they are against military targets (improper attacks).

Second: Indicators of humanitarian crisis in Somalia
1- Crisis of Displaced & Refugees:
The United Nations Organization (UN) said that last battles led to the flee of nearly 321 thousand persons, i.e. one third of Mogadishu's populations since last February in unprecedented scenes of refugees since fall of the regime of Siad Berry in 1991. The battles also resulted in killing nearly 1400 persons; most of them are civilians causing the worst exodus crisis all over the world.

As for the problem of refugees, the number of Somali refugees who fled since the beginning of occupation at the end of 2006 reaches 500.000 persons. The UN mentioned that nearly 400.000 persons fled from Mogadishu while the Somali president Abdullah Youssef and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed said that only 30 or 40 thousand persons were displaced as half of them have returned to their homes, the matter which aggravated the crisis of refugees.

2- War Attacks committed by Ethiopian forces:
The Ethiopian forces, during April, have launched strikes against civil areas in Mogadishu which resulted in killing and injuring thousands of civilians in addition to the displacement of two-thirds of Mogadishu's populations, according to estimations of world organizations. The Somali government has prevented the relief organizations to deliver humanitarian aid to the war fleeing while the Kenyan authorities have closed borders before refugees under the pretext of preventing the infiltration of terrorists into Kenyan lands, the matter which deteriorated positions of refugees and increased their suffering.

The UN High Commission for Human Rights and human rights monitoring bodies expressed concern about the random attacks of Ethiopian forces on the civil areas in Mogadishu, the matter which led the European Union (EU) to open an investigation on the possibility of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Ethiopian forces.

3- Warning against a health catastrophe:
The organization of Doctors without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), warned against the health risks caused by the rotting corpses scattered in the streets of Mogadishu. It called on all fighting parties to the fire cessation in order to avoid the humanitarian catastrophe and respect the medical humanitarian work in the outpatient clinics. Also, the UN expressed worry to the danger of the spread of Cholera.

4- Increasing the suffering of civilian populations:
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Erik Laroche said that many populations are suffering from lack of water and food as many of them died because of Cholera and stomach intestinal. He noted that thousand of displaced are living under trees in deserts and they are in dire need of food, water, tents and medicines.

Third: Efforts of humanitarian relief organizations to face the crisis's humanitarian repercussions:
1- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has performed many activities and missions during the period from April to May 2007 to face the humanitarian crisis resulted due to renewal of Somali crisis. Said activities and missions included the following:
Transporting 22 tonnes of medical aid through air to health centers in Mogadishu.

Treating 1700 persons injured by fires of weapons. three thousands injured persons were treated in health centers supported by the ICRC in the middle and southern regions in addition to 2250 injured who received the treatment in health centers in Mogadishu.

The ICRC has provided some hospitals with medical supplies in addition salaries of employees. It also provided training courses for employees, physicians and technicians.

2- World Health Organizations:
The World Health Organization (WHO) tries to provide $ 5.5 million for financing the reconstruction of local hospital in Beidawa and facing the acute watery diarrhea. It raised the level of surveillance and response and trained 60 health workers in the center of Cholera treatment.

3- United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO):
The unit responsible for analyzing the food positions in Somalia affiliated to the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that nearly 1.8 million Somalis in the years 2007 need urgent food aid.

4- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF):
The UNICEF has launched a donation campaign to save Somalia of deteriorating conditions. It warned, in last May, against the dangerous humanitarian situation in this country and called for collecting $ 13.5 million with the aim of helping hundreds of displaced persons.

5- United Nations High Commission for Refugees:
Spokesperson of the UN High Commission for Refugees said that the commission is providing relief supplies for nearly 20 thousand of displaced who represent a part of nearly 320 thousand persons fled due to violence in Somalia.

Fourth: Evaluation of the role of humanitarian relief organizations:
In spite of the important role of the international humanitarian relief organizations in face of the catastrophic repercussions of armed conflicts, the matter which stresses the necessity of cooperation between governments of countries witnessing armed conflicts and such organizations, but the actual situation is different. The humanitarian organizations face many challenges while practicing their role in the regions of conflicts topped by safety of employees and finance of humanitarian relief operations.

The humanitarian relief organizations faced many obstacles in dealing with the Somali crisis. Such obstacles included the government's role in hindering distribution of humanitarian aid on thousands of immigrants, non-cooperation of local authorities with the humanitarian organizations, non-commitment of all parties of conflict in Somalia to the international humanitarian law, non-arrival of relief aid to all people, works of piracy against ships of humanitarian relief and finally inability of the international community in face the humanitarian crisis in this country. The acts of violence in Somalia hindered efforts of relief affiliated to the UNICEF.

Fifth: How to face the humanitarian repercussions of the crisis:
In light of the difficulties and obstacles which prevent the relief organizations to assume their role in Somalia, especially those affiliated to the UN, but the international organization is in a dire need for the international support to promote its presence in Somalia and restore basic services for people there.

Nigerian general election, 2007

The Nigerian general elections of 2007 were held on 14 April and 21 April 2007. Governorship and state assembly elections were held on 14 April, while the presidential and national assembly elections were held a week later on 21 April. Umaru Yar'Adua won the highly controversial election for the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and was sworn in on 29 May.

Background

On May 16, 2006 the Nigerian Senate voted to block a constitutional amendment which would have allowed its president to serve more than two terms in office. President Olusegun Obasanjo thus could not pursue a third term. Additionally he was unsupported by Atiku Abubakar, his vice-president. Presidential candidates were announced in late December 2006, and 50,000 assault rifles were ordered to help the military maintain order during the election. Umaru Yar'Adua contested the election for the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), and the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) chose Muhammadu Buhari. Atiku Abubakar, the current Vice-President, announced on 25 November 2006 that he would contest the election,[and he subsequently became the presidential candidate of the Action Congress in December.

States & Governors :
The PDP controls 28 of the 36 states, but the largest city, Lagos, has been in the hands of the Alliance for the Democracy (AD) since 1999.

 
Abubakar eligibility :
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Abubakar ineligible to run due to fraud charges.

A High Court had ruled that the commission could not disqualify candidates, but INEC claimed that the constitution barred candidates from running if indicted.

Another superior court, the Court of Appeal, ruled in favour of the Electoral Commission by saying that it has powers to disqualify candidates.

Abubakar attempted to get on the ballot via court challenge. In a case that came before the apex court, the court ruled that INEC has no constitutional powers to disqualify any candidates for the election, clearing the way for Abubakar to run.

The Supreme Court, the country's highest judicial body, confirmed this ruling and reaffirmed Abubakar's candidacy.

Adebayo Adefarati, the candidate of the small Alliance for Democracy, died shortly before the election on 29 March 2007. This raised the possibility of the election being delayed, as the law provides for a delay under the circumstances if requested by the party that had nominated the candidate; however, a spokesman for INEC said that the election would not be delayed. He said that the party could nominate a replacement candidate.
Attacks
Nigerian military killed at least 25 suspected Islamic militants 18 April, while battling extremists who attacked a police station on 17 April in Kano, days before the electionShortly before voting began on 21 April, there was an alleged attempt in Bayelsa State to kill Goodluck Jonathan, who is the PDP vice-presidential candidate and the governor of the state, as well as a failed attempt to destroy INEC headquarters in Abuja with a truck bomb.

Nigeria has never yet managed a peaceful handover from one democratically elected president at the end of his constitutional term to the next. The most recent failed election was the 1993 election of M. K. O. Abiola, which was annulled by Ibrahim Babangida, the military dictator ruling at the time. General Sani Abacha eventually seized power, and when Abiola tried to claim his presidency, he was imprisoned until his questionable death in 1998.

Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly results :
The ruling PDP won 26 of the 32 states, according to INEC, including Kaduna State and Katsina State, where the results were contested by the local population; the election will have to be rerun in Imo State and Enugu State due to complications. By the last count, Obasanjo's PDP party had won 29 of 33 states so far declared, with Human Rights Watch describing the vote-rigging as "shameless".

Presidential election vote and results :
Following the gubernatorial and state assembly elections on 14 April, 18 parties, including those of Abubakar and Buhari, demanded on 17 April that the presidential election be postponed, that INEC be disbanded, and that the earlier elections be annulled; otherwise, they said that they would consider boycotting the presidential election.

On 19 April, however, both Buhari's ANPP and Abubakar's Action Congress said that they would not boycott the election.

The 60 million presidential election ballot papers were kept in South Africa to prevent tampering. However, last-minute changes to add Abubakar to the list caused problems in distribution of ballots as papers did not arrive from South Africa until Friday evening. The reprinted papers were not serially numbered as was intended.

Results :

official figures on voter turnout were not released but the turnout was estimated at 57.5 percent of 61.5 million registered voters.

The first results to be released, from Rivers State, showed a large majority for Yar'Adua. On April 23, Yar'Adua was declared the winner by INEC, which said that he had received 70% of the vote (24,638,063 votes). Buhari was said to be in second place with 18% of the vote(6,605,299 votes), while Abubakar was placed third with about 7% (2,637,848 votes). Both Buhari and Abubakar rejected the results. The opposition candidates believe the election was rigged in Yar'Adua's favor.

Outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo stated in a televised address that the election "could not be described as perfect".

The results did not disclose the total votes scored in the states or the percentages of the scores by the presidential candidates.

Yar'Adua was inaugurated on 29 May 2007.

Reactions :
Ikimi and Amusu, the representatives of the AC and the ANPP at the INEC Collation Centre in Abuja, denounced the results announced by the INEC Chairman. According to Ikimi, "In states like Edo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Akwa Ibom etc, we know that the elections did not start even as late as 5 pm.

 The results collated showed that over 80 percent of the votes being counted in favour of the PDP and they are totally flawed. In most of the states, only the Resident Electoral Commissioners and the PDP Agents signed the results. We have been here since yesterday (Sunday) to observe this collation and we only collated eleven states and the INEC Chairman just rushed down to declare the results and declare Umoru Yar'Adua as the winner."

 
According to Ikimi, "The result sheets we viewed so far was not signed by any of our agents at the state level. They were only signed by Resident Electoral Commissioners and only the PDP agents."

Also, Admiral Lanre Amusu who represented the ANPP at the INEC collation centre concurred what Chief Tom Ikimi said. "I am in total agreement with what Chief Ikimi has just said. Only results from 13 states and they were collated and signed by the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the States and the PDP Agents.

 Our agents did not sign these results.
The national chairman of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), Chief Olu Falae, with leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Action Congress (AC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), National Advance Party (NAP) and the National Democratic Party (NDP), has called for the setting up of an Interim National Government to conduct credible elections in the country.

Falae explained that the country needed an ING to guard against the emergence of the military on the political scene.

The Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation claimed that the INEC deliberately left 70 percent of the ballot papers in a warehouse in Johannesburg, South Africa. They claimed that the contractors could have freighted the entire 200-ton consignment into the country three days before the election (Thursday) but the INEC told them to bring only 30 percent of the ballot papers.

Nigeria's Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said the West should deny entry visas to election commissioner Maurice Iwu for his "complicity in the fraudulent elections." He said he has heard of the financial prudence and moral uprightness of Yar'Adua.

"I wish he [Yar'Adua] would carry his decency even further by publicly renouncing this poisoned chalice to say: 'I'm not a receiver of stolen goods'."

Observers
Following the presidential election, groups monitoring the election gave it a dismal assessment. Chief EU observer Max van den Berg reported that the handling of the polls had "fallen far short" of basic international standards, and that "the process cannot be considered to be credible”.

 citing "poor election organisation, lack of transparency, significant evidence of fraud, voter disenfranchisement, violence and bias."

One group of observers said that at one polling station in Yenagoa, in the oil-rich south, where 500 people were registered to vote, more than 2,000 votes were counted.[

Felix Alaba Job, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference, cited massive fraud and disorganisation, including result sheets being passed around to politicians who simply filled in numbers as they chose while bribed returning electoral officers looked away.

International reaction :
A spokesman for the United States Department of State said it was "deeply troubled" by election polls, calling them "flawed", and said it hoped the political parties would resolve any differences over the election through peaceful, constitutional means.

"Nigeria has once again failed to rise to the occasion... Size isn't enough... It is a failed giant," said prominent Ghanaian economist Nii Moi Thompson. He compared its elections to those of Liberia in 2005, saying, "Even Liberia, which is coming out of war, had more credible elections than Nigeria."

"There is the saying: 'How goes Nigeria, so goes the rest of Africa'. To have this widespread abuse of the democratic initiative certainly doesn't do Africa any good," said Scott Baker, a professor at Champlain College in the US city of Burlington, Vermont. "How can Nigeria sit at the meetings of the African Union African Peer Review Mechanism or ECOWAS and talk about other people's elections?" he asked.

Algerian Legislative Elections 

On May 17, 2007, Algeria witnessed parliamentary elections to elect 389 members of the parliament, better known as the lower chamber, for distinction from the higher chamber (the Council of Nation); the two chambers that constitute the parliament.

The elections were characterized with the following:
Elections were held under terrorist explosions that claimed lives and left others injured in a first-of-a-kind action since ten years. Those are the explosions that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb declared it was responsible for.

Some political powers in the state called for boycotting the elections, on top of which was the banned Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) led by Abbasi Madany and Ali Belhadj, the Front of Socialist Forces led by Hussein Ait Ahmad, and the Movement of National Reform led by Abdallah Djaballah who was ousted from presiding the party by virtue of a judicial resolution and the consent of the authorities, in addition to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The elections were also characterized with low turnout, according to the official numbers, reaching only 35%.

The elections were a chance to talk about the status of the parliament or the legislative power in the Algerian political regime on the official and actual levels. In this concern, constitutional texts point that the council should be vested in legislation and supervising the executive power, however, practically, the Parliament is mistrusted with its role; being unable to perform any of those two roles due to the authorities' neglecting the Parliament and vesting the power in the president and the executive authorities in general.

The elections included twenty-four political parties that reflect various political trends from the extreme right wing to the extreme left wing and passing by the Islamic moderate trend.

The elections turnout indicates the following:
A retrogressive share of the National Liberation Front's seats in the council; it attained 136 seats instead of 199 in the previous council.

The National Rally for Democracy attained 61 seats instead of 47 in the previous council.
The Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas) attained 52 seats instead of 38 in the previous council.

From the aforementioned it can be noticed that the three parties, parties of the governmental coalition, attained absolute majority in the council at a capacity of 249 seats.
The share of independent candidates rose as they attained 33 seats instead of 30 in the previous council.

The Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) attained the same number of seats of the 1997 elections as it did not participate in the 2002 elections.

The elections were characterized with the prominence of the elderly (about 199 representatives range between the age of sixty and above) thus leading some people to call it the 'elderly parliament'.

A retrogressive feminist representation in the council as the former one included 26 ladies while the new one includes only 21 against 368 seats for men to the extent that some analysts called it 'the beard and mustache council'.

Some press sources find that retrogression in participation in the elections is a highly significant message to the authority and its parties. Weakness of participation means, according to the same sources, that the people began to practice what can be called 'political disobedience'.

In addition, there are those who see that the people gave the presidential coalition parties (National Liberation Front+ National Rally for Democracy+ the Movement of Society for Peace) a heavy blow. These parties can not speak of the president's platform on which the people cast votes at 80%, while these parties attained only 36%.

 
Conclusion:
The legislative elections were run on their legally due date; the authority did not draw back because of al-Qaeda terrorist threats. In addition, the authority did not pay attention to the boycott calls though their advocates were figures of weight. Never to mention, the elections reflected the authority's insistence on banning strict Islamists from running for elections. In spite of the step taken for national understanding and reconciliation, the authority- according to some analysts' viewpoints- abided by giving no chance to the ISF to get involved in public political action so that the 1991 incidents would not recur.

 Worth noting, correspondents in Algiers say that such elections are of no importance to the Algerian society as the real power lies with president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the army and the intelligence services. Furthermore, the Algerian democracy is described as illusive, that the economic problems are still the citizens' major occupation, when unemployment among those under thirty reached 75% though the Algerian economy relies on oil and gas exportation to North America and Europe. Worth mentioning also is what the Algerian ex-prime minister, Hamroush, declared in a lecture he delivered in Jordanian capital in April 2007, saying that Algeria does not have a 'state' with the full meaning of the word. All that is there is authority and this, according to him, applies to all Arab states pointing to the fact that whenever there is a state, there is authority, but this does not necessarily mean that whenever there is an authority there is a state. Hamroush stressed the significance of making law the real authority in Algeria, not individuals or groups. He also added that his country is threatened with elimination, not only because of violence and attempts of foreign interference, but also because of the widening gap between the rulers and the people. He also adds that the Algerian regime's refusal to respect the legislature's independence led the state to a more isolation than was during the one-party-era.

This is what many analysts say, on the other hand there are those who see that the elections were held in a calm moderate atmosphere, and that participation is similar to that of many countries among which are deep-rooted democratic states. In addition, there was nothing that would disturb the elections that, according to those analysts, took place in an atmosphere characterized with transparency and objectivity. They find that turnouts came to reflect the real size of the various political powers, that holding the elections in the due date is a blow to terrorism that aims at intimidating citizens and negatively affecting the democratic track, efforts, and national understanding. 



 



On May 17, 2007, Algeria witnessed parliamentary elections to elect 389 members of the parliament, better known as the lower chamber, for distinction from the higher chamber (the Council of Nation); the two chambers that constitute the parliament.

The elections were characterized with the following:
Elections were held under terrorist explosions that claimed lives and left others injured in a first-of-a-kind action since ten years. Those are the explosions that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb declared it was responsible for.

Some political powers in the state called for boycotting the elections, on top of which was the banned Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) led by Abbasi Madany and Ali Belhadj, the Front of Socialist Forces led by Hussein Ait Ahmad, and the Movement of National Reform led by Abdallah Djaballah who was ousted from presiding the party by virtue of a judicial resolution and the consent of the authorities, in addition to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The elections were also characterized with low turnout, according to the official numbers, reaching only 35%.

The elections were a chance to talk about the status of the parliament or the legislative power in the Algerian political regime on the official and actual levels. In this concern, constitutional texts point that the council should be vested in legislation and supervising the executive power, however, practically, the Parliament is mistrusted with its role; being unable to perform any of those two roles due to the authorities' neglecting the Parliament and vesting the power in the president and the executive authorities in general.

The elections included twenty-four political parties that reflect various political trends from the extreme right wing to the extreme left wing and passing by the Islamic moderate trend.

The elections turnout indicates the following:
A retrogressive share of the National Liberation Front's seats in the council; it attained 136 seats instead of 199 in the previous council.

The National Rally for Democracy attained 61 seats instead of 47 in the previous council.

The Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas) attained 52 seats instead of 38 in the previous council.

From the aforementioned it can be noticed that the three parties, parties of the governmental coalition, attained absolute majority in the council at a capacity of 249 seats.

The share of independent candidates rose as they attained 33 seats instead of 30 in the previous council.

The Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) attained the same number of seats of the 1997 elections as it did not participate in the 2002 elections.

The elections were characterized with the prominence of the elderly (about 199 representatives range between the age of sixty and above) thus leading some people to call it the 'elderly parliament'.

A retrogressive feminist representation in the council as the former one included 26 ladies while the new one includes only 21 against 368 seats for men to the extent that some analysts called it 'the beard and mustache council'.

Some press sources find that retrogression in participation in the elections is a highly significant message to the authority and its parties. Weakness of participation means, according to the same sources, that the people began to practice what can be called 'political disobedience'.

In addition, there are those who see that the people gave the presidential coalition parties (National Liberation Front+ National Rally for Democracy+ the Movement of Society for Peace) a heavy blow. These parties can not speak of the president's platform on which the people cast votes at 80%, while these parties attained only 36%.

Conclusion:
The legislative elections were run on their legally due date; the authority did not draw back because of al-Qaeda terrorist threats.

 In addition, the authority did not pay attention to the boycott calls though their advocates were figures of weight. Never to mention, the elections reflected the authority's insistence on banning strict Islamists from running for elections. In spite of the step taken for national understanding and reconciliation, the authority- according to some analysts' viewpoints- abided by giving no chance to the ISF to get involved in public political action so that the 1991 incidents would not recur. Worth noting, correspondents in Algiers say that such elections are of no importance to the Algerian society as the real power lies with president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the army and the intelligence services. Furthermore, the Algerian democracy is described as illusive, that the economic problems are still the citizens' major occupation, when unemployment among those under thirty reached 75% though the Algerian economy relies on oil and gas exportation to North America and Europe. Worth mentioning also is what the Algerian ex-prime minister, Hamroush, declared in a lecture he delivered in Jordanian capital in April 2007, saying that Algeria does not have a 'state' with the full meaning of the word. All that is there is authority and this, according to him, applies to all Arab states pointing to the fact that whenever there is a state, there is authority, but this does not necessarily mean that whenever there is an authority there is a state.

Hamroush stressed the significance of making law the real authority in Algeria, not individuals or groups.

 He also added that his country is threatened with elimination, not only because of violence and attempts of foreign interference, but also because of the widening gap between the rulers and the people.

 He also adds that the Algerian regime's refusal to respect the legislature's independence led the state to a more isolation than was during the one-party-era.

This is what many analysts say, on the other hand there are those who see that the elections were held in a calm moderate atmosphere, and that participation is similar to that of many countries among which are deep-rooted democratic states. In addition, there was nothing that would disturb the elections that, according to those analysts, took place in an atmosphere characterized with transparency and objectivity. They find that turnouts came to reflect the real size of the various political powers, that holding the elections in the due date is a blow to terrorism that aims at intimidating citizens and negatively affecting the democratic track, efforts, and national understanding.

Presidential elections in Mali 

The Higher Constitutional Court (HCC) announced its approval to the results of the presidential elections in Mali on April 29, 2007. The final results indicated the victory of president Amadou Toumani Toure with a second and last term in office with 68% of valid votes.

The opposition parties have filed a complaint in which they called for the cancellation of declared results and re-election due to the counterfeiting. The HCC rejected the request depending on the report of foreign observers from European Union, United States, African Union and World francophone Organization which indicated that elections are neutral and that declared results are correct.

The first reason behind the US and European interest in the democratic elections is the "model of Mali" and the historic role of General Amadou Touri in 1991 in the march of democratic transformation following the end of cold war and the declaration of international conditionality, i.e. the policy declared by France, US and England as they called for the transformation from the regime of one party and military system to a democratic political system including a multi-party system and transformation of authority through free and neutral elections on the basis of competitiveness and human rights. The international aid and help of donor countries will not be achieved except through responding to demands of northern countries.

When president Trawery refused to respond to demands of donor countries, General Amadou Touri led a coup d'etat, seized power, allowed formation of political parties and issued a new constitution establishing a civil democratic republic. During the transitional period (1991-1992) a parliamentary election was held in which former president Alpha Oumar Konare won the authority.

General Touri withdrawn from the power by his will, returned, with his army, to the military barracks, retired from the military life and practiced the civil life far from political parties.

President Alpha Oumar Konare assumed office only for two terms (10 years) according to the constitution. In 2002, Gneral Amadou Touri was nominated for the presidential elections and won the first term. In 2007, he nominated himself for a second term and won the presidential elections.

 During the first term of current president, he governed the country through a consensual democracy based on a wide partisan coalition guaranteeing the majority in the legislative and executive authority.

 
General Touri was nicknamed "Soldier of financial democracy" and enjoyed a positive reputation among investing donors after he was elected as the president of the country in 2002.

 Public participation in the Malian elections is traditionally weak due high level of illiteracy.

Eight candidates were nominated for the Malian presidential elections, including a woman, under the supervision of nearly 1000 observers.

Touri won the elections easily because of stability witnessed by the country under his presidency in addition to his military history.

 The government of Touri enjoys the support of 30 political parties, the matter which led many voters to realize that the result is predetermined. In his campaign, Touri focused on continuing the program of development. He succeeded to make the country a model for stable democracy in western Africa.