Middle East Information Resource
Political Entities - Front de Liberation Nationale
The Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) is an Algerian nationalist organization. It was founded underground in 1954 by a group of young activists who were dissatisfied with the leadership of Messali Hajj and other established nationalist leaders and their parties (the MTLD and PPA). They considered armed struggle to be inevitable and resolved to prepare for it. An Organization Secrete (or Speciale) was formed within the MTLD for that purpose in the early 1950`s. They later seceded from the MTLD to forming the Camite Revolutionnaire pour l`Unite et l`Action (CRUA), which transformed itself in 1954 into the FLN.
The FLN was led by Ahmad Ben Bella, Belkacem Krim, Hussein Ait-Ahmad, Muhammad Khidr and others, with headquarters in Cairo and later Tunis. In November 1954 the FLN opened an armed struggle against France. It established a strong guerrilla force which developed into an army, and was able to assume political leadership. It led an unrelenting armed struggle for over seven years, finally securing Algeria`s independence in 1962.
Initially, there was a period of contention in connection with the formation of independent Algeria`s governing institutions. Eventually, the FLN prevailed; it established itself as the country`s single party dominating the government and providing all the leading functionaries. It eliminated all rival groups and purged all factions within the FLN that opposed Ben Bella`s leadership. The FLN leadership officially determined the candidate for the Presidency and all the National Assembly candidates in the elections. These elections were well-orchestrated plebiscites sure to endorse the party list. Political appointments were ratified in a similar way.
By the 1980`s the FLN had become a privileged bureaucratic elite. They adhered to the form and rhetoric of the socialist system, but enjoyed great economic benefit. They were responsible for gross mismanagement of the Algerian economy. Following riots in 1988, President Ben Jedid launched political liberalization which legalized opposition parties. The FLN`s hold on Algerian politics was broken, and Ben Jedid became a force to be reckoned with. During the first round of parliamentary elections in December 1991, the FLN won only 16 seats compared with the Islamic Salvation Front`s 188.
In January 1992, the military took power. They blamed the FLN for the country`s troubles and removed them from positions of poloitical power. Under a new general secretary, Abdel-Hamid Mehri, the FLN joined seven other parties in signing the National Pact in January 1995 calling for the restoration of democratic government in Algeria. Mehri was deposed in February 1996, and was replaced by Boualem Benhamouda, who sought a rapprochement with the military. The FLN supported President Zeroual`s policies and constitutional amendments throughout 1996, but never regained its position as the ruling party.