The Algerian government and leaders of the Berber minority have agreed to overturn the results of elections held in 2002, paving the way for talks to resolve the long-running crisis in Kabylie province, a government statement said yesterday. The accord, which was signed by both sides late Thursday after 13 hours of talks in the national capital, Algiers, called for âunduly elected officialsâ voted into office in regional, local and parliamentary elections in Kabylie in 2002 to be removed from office.
In the statement, the government said the revocation took effect on Jan. 20 and committed itself to take âthe necessary measures with the concerned partiesâ to overturn the results of the elections âin a climate of calm and within a reasonable time scale.â Talks on the broader crisis in Kabylie, considered the Berbersâ homeland, were due to begin later yesterday. The government statement said that the results of local, regional and parliamentary elections would be overturned in the voting districts of Tizi Ouzou, Kabylieâs main city, and in Bejaia, the northeastern provinceâs second largest city. In three other regions â Bouira, Setif and Boumerdes â the results would only be overturned in predominantly Berber vote precincts, where a call by Berber leaders to boycott the polls was widely heeded. Voter turnout for the 2002 elections in Kabylie and nearby districts with large Berber populations was in single-digit percentage figures.
| First time I've ever heard of a vote boycott actually working... |
|