The fourth and final step in the "democratisation" of Algeria took place yesterday as the smoke of battle hung over the forests outside the capital and the bodies of hundreds of massacre victims lay fresh in their graves. The local elections vote was marred by the lowest turnout in the two-year process, and was immediately condemned by opposition parties as fraud-ridden. But with security forces on every city and village street, no bombings or killings were reported.
An hour before polls closed last night, the Interior Ministry claimed that 55.87 per cent of 16 million registered voters had cast ballots; participation was lowest in the capital, where only 35.27 per cent voted. But even these figures are subject to question. In poor areas of the capital, voters were lured out with gifts of lentils and blankets.
Indifference and disillusionment were the main reasons for the lack of interest in the election of 1,500 town councils and 48 regional authorities. "In recent years, we have gone to the polls almost every six months," said El Watan, one of Algiers' main newspapers. "Up until now, we have seen no concrete results. Each time we are asked to vote it changes nothing in our everyday lives."
In November 1995, Gen Liamine Zeroual was elected President. The following year, he held a constitutional referendum to safeguard the electoral system against a fundamentalist victory.
And last June, President Zeroual's newly-created party, the Rally for National Democracy (RND), won the lion's share of seats in the new parliament. The illusion of "pluralism" is maintained by the presence of impotent opposition parties, but many Algerians say the military is in effect returning to a one-party system under the RND.
Although election results were not available last night, there was little doubt that the RND would win a majority.
President Zeroual and his coterie of generals have now locked down all of Algeria's institutions for the foreseeable future. When he went to cast his ballot, Mr Zeroual told journalists the poll was "a historic event in the framework of a global bid to end the crisis once and for all".
He will chose one-third of the members of the upper house of parliament from among yesterday's winning candidates. The other twothirds of the senators will be chosen by newly-elected local authorities.
Opposition parties are sometimes criticised for lending credibility to the military's "demo cratic" experiment. They defend themselves by saying they must occupy whatever political space is made available.
All cried foul last night: the moderate Islamist party Hamas complained of threats and intimidation against its supporters. The Front of Socialist Forces said one of its candidates was beaten up and others were thrown out of polling stations. "We were expecting fraud, but not on this scale," complained the secular Rally for Culture and Democracy.
Two main tactics are used to shore up the government's score on such occasions. Ballot boxes in mobile polling stations reserved for the security forces are stuffed, away from the eyes of party observers. And insiders say a percentage of abstentionist votes is attributed to the RND.
Army attempts to reassure resi- dents they are safe to vote: page 10
