The Civil Forum for Change
(, FCC or FCPC
) is an alliance of 70 citizens' groups created on 9 March 2019 during the "Hirak"
2019 Algerian protests
The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak (), began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. These protests, without ...
.
, the FCC is headed by Abderrahmane Arar. The FCC supported the holding of the
12 December 2019 presidential election.
Creation
The FCC was created on 9 March 2019 during the "Hirak"
2019 Algerian protests
The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak (), began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. These protests, without ...
, coordinated by Abderrahmane Arar. It claimed to consist of 70 national and local citizens' associations.
June/July meetings and the
The FCC participated
in a meeting on 15 June 2019 at which the
Dynamiques de la société civile, an alliance of trade unions, civil society groups and individuals who aim to coordinate their Hirak actions of reorganising the political structure of the Algerian state,
from which the
Wasilla network had withdrawn on the grounds of the lack of a clear support for equality between women and men.
In July, ''
Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
'' saw "three forces" emerging from the numerous debates among civil society actors: the FCC, the Dynamiques, and the coordinated by .
On 6 July, a national conference was held by the FCC and the . The main outcome of the meeting was a plan to create a panel of well-respected people for discussions with the government and for the holding of a presidential election.
On 17 July, the FCC proposed a 13-member dialogue panel, including ,
Mouloud Hamrouche,
Mokdad Sifi,
Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi,
Djamila Bouhired, Fatiha Benabou, Nacer Djabi, , Islam Benattia, Lyes Merabet, Nafissa Lahrèche, Smaaïl Lalmas and Aïcha Zenaï.
Abderrahmane Arar stated in a press conference that all thirteen had agreed to participate in the panel. Djamila Bouhired, a well-known freedom fighter in the
Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
for liberation from French occupation, replied that she was unaware of having been proposed for the panel and that she "could not be a member of a group of people that included some who had been in the
uling clique.
The dialogue panel, which later became known as the , was widely criticised by the Hirak protestors. The FCC responded to criticisms by saying that the panel "doesn't represent either Hirak or the people is not speak in their name".
Towards the 12 December presidential election
In September 2019, Arar, on behalf of the FCC, denounced the arrests of Hirak activists and called for the government to "prepare a calm climate to help the electoral operation succeed".
In early October, the FCC organised its "national constitutional assembly" with 400 participants, electing Arar as its president. Arar declared his intention to be a candidate in the presidential election.
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{cite news, language=fr, title=Dynamiques de la Société civile: la rencontre du 24 août, une "solution salutaire", trans-title=Dynamiques de la Société civile: the 24 August meeting, "a good solution", date=2019-08-19, newspaper= Le Matin d'Algérie, url=https://www.lematindalgerie.com/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-la-rencontre-du-24-aout-une-solution-salutaire, access-date=2019-12-09, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209010957/https://www.lematindalgerie.com/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-la-rencontre-du-24-aout-une-solution-salutaire, archive-date=2019-12-09, url-status=live]
[{{cite news, last1=Iddir, first1= Nadir, language=fr, title=Dynamiques de la société civile : Cap sur la conférence nationale, trans-title=Dynamiques de la société civile: towards a national meeting, date=2019-11-17, newspaper= El Watan, url=https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-cap-sur-la-conference-nationale-17-11-2019, access-date=2019-12-15, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215220523/https://www.elwatan.com/edition/actualite/dynamiques-de-la-societe-civile-cap-sur-la-conference-nationale-17-11-2019, archive-date= 2019-12-15, url-status=live]
[{{cite news, last1=Ouitis, first1=Leïla, language=en, title=Feminists on the front lines of the Algerian uprising, date=2019-09-06, newspaper= ROAR Magazine, url=https://roarmag.org/essays/feminism-algerian-uprising/, access-date=2019-12-22, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216133215/https://roarmag.org/essays/feminism-algerian-uprising/, archive-date= 2019-12-16, url-status=live]
[{{cite news, language=fr, title=Le FCC en congrès pour porter appui à l'élection présidentielle : Son coordonnateur, et désormais président, Abderrahmane Arar se porte candidat au scrutin, trans-title=The FCC meets in support of the presidential election: its coordinator, and now its president, Abderrahmane Arar, runs for election, date=2019-10-06, newspaper={{ill, Reporters (newspaper), fr, Reporters (journal), lt=Reporters, url=https://www.reporters.dz/2019/10/06/le-fcc-en-congres-pour-porter-appui-a-lelection-presidentielle-son-coordonnateur-et-desormais-president-abderrahmane-arar-se-porte-candidat-au-scrutin/, access-date=2019-12-26, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226005525/https://www.reporters.dz/2019/10/06/le-fcc-en-congres-pour-porter-appui-a-lelection-presidentielle-son-coordonnateur-et-desormais-president-abderrahmane-arar-se-porte-candidat-au-scrutin/, archive-date=26 December 2019, url-status=dead]
[{{cite news, last1=Poletti, first1=Arianne, language=fr, title= Algérie : comprendre les différentes propositions de sortie de crise en une infographie, trans-title=Algeria: a diagram for understanding the different proposals for solving the crisis, date=2019-07-26, newspaper=]Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
, url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/808573/politique/algerie-comprendre-les-differentes-propositions-de-sortie-de-crise-en-une-infographie/, access-date=2019-12-26 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226003705/https://www.jeuneafrique.com/808573/politique/algerie-comprendre-les-differentes-propositions-de-sortie-de-crise-en-une-infographie/, archive-date=2019-12-26, url-status=live
[{{cite news, last1=Kebir, first1=Karim, language=fr, title=Multiplication des initiatives pour une sortie de crise, trans-title=Multiple initiatives to solve the crisis , date=2019-07-20, newspaper= Liberté, url=https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/multiplication-des-initiatives-pour-une-sortie-de-crise-320252 , access-date=2019-12-26, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226004540/https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/multiplication-des-initiatives-pour-une-sortie-de-crise-320252, archive-date= 2019-12-26, url-status=live]
[{{cite news, last1=Lyes, first1=Sonia, language=fr, title=Forum civil pour le changement : 13 personnalités pour mener le dialogue et la médiation, trans-title=Forum civil pour le changement: 13 eminent people for leading dialogue and mediation, date=2019-07-17, newspaper={{ill, TSA (online media), fr, TSA (site web), lt=TSA, url= https://www.tsa-algerie.com/forum-civil-pour-le-changement-treize-personnalites-pour-mener-le-dialogue-et-la-mediation/, access-date=2019-12-26, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226022634/https://www.tsa-algerie.com/forum-civil-pour-le-changement-treize-personnalites-pour-mener-le-dialogue-et-la-mediation/, archive-date= 2019-12-26, url-status=live]
[{{cite news, last1=Daou, first1=Marc, language=fr, title=En Algérie, le mouvement populaire cherche toujours sa voix, trans-title=In Algeria, the grassroots movement il still searching for its voice, date=2019-07-18, newspaper=]France 24
France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market.
Based in the Paris suburb ...
, url=https://www.france24.com/fr/20190718-algerie-mouvement-populaire-liste-personalites-dialogue-pouvoir-manifestations, access-date=2019-12-26, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226004204/https://www.france24.com/fr/20190718-algerie-mouvement-populaire-liste-personalites-dialogue-pouvoir-manifestations, archive-date=2019-12-26, url-status=live
[{{cite news, last1=Aimeur, first1=Karim, language=fr, title=Le Forum civil pour le changement s'explique, trans-title=The Forum civil pour le changement explains, date=2019-07-29, newspaper= Le Soir d'Algérie, url=https://www.lesoirdalgerie.com/actualites/le-forum-civil-pour-le-changement-sexplique-27835, access-date=2019-12-26, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226031608/https://www.lesoirdalgerie.com/actualites/le-forum-civil-pour-le-changement-sexplique-27835, archive-date= 2019-12-26, url-status=live]
[{{cite news, last1=Djama, first1=Younès, language=fr , title= Arrestations des activistes du Hirak : Arar dénonce des " décisions abusives ", trans-title=Arrests of Hirak activists: Arar denounces "unjust decisions", date=2019-09-19, newspaper={{ill, TSA (online media), fr, TSA (site web), lt=TSA, url=https://www.tsa-algerie.com/arrestations-des-activistes-du-hirak-arar-denonce-des-decisions-abusives/, access-date=2019-12-26, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226034215/https://www.tsa-algerie.com/arrestations-des-activistes-du-hirak-arar-denonce-des-decisions-abusives/, archive-date=2019-12-26, url-status=live]
[{{cite news , title= Political crisis: Civil Forum for Change proposes figures to lead mediation, dialogue , trans-title = , date= 2019-07-17 , newspaper= Algeria Press Service , url= http://www.aps.dz/en/algeria/30079-political-crisis-civil-forum-for-change-proposes-figures-to-lead-mediation-dialogue , access-date=2019-12-30 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190723013702/http://www.aps.dz/en/algeria/30079-political-crisis-civil-forum-for-change-proposes-figures-to-lead-mediation-dialogue , archive-date= 2019-07-23 , url-status=live ]
See also
*
Forces of the Democratic Alternative
The Forces of the Democratic Alternative ( or (FPAD), agdudan, Arabic: العقد السياسي لقوى البديل الديمقراطي; also: ''Democratic Alternative Forces Pact'', ''Forces of the Pact of the Democratic Alternative'') or FD ...
*
Dynamiques de la société civile
2019–2021 Algerian protests
Non-profit organisations based in Algeria
Political opposition alliances in the Arab world