The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna estimated that a decree extending the use of a couplet evoking colonial France in the national anthem of Algeria could “appear out of time” when the two countries strive to give new impetus to their relationship. A new presidential decree, promulgated on May 24, modified that of 1986. “Its content can be interpreted as a way (…) of making the execution of the five couplets compulsory in the situations provided for by law”, explained this week the Algerian news site TSA.
Catherine Colonna wonders about the temporality of this decree
Asked about LCI on Friday evening, Catherine Colonna stressed that it was “very dated” and that it was necessary to put “it in its context of decolonization”. But she also stressed that she was wondering about “the decision to extend the use of a hymn which dates from another era at the very moment when the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron and the President (Algerian Abdelmadjid) Tebboune decided, last summer, to give a new impetus to our relations”.
“The context of the time explains it. Today, I concede to you that it may appear out of time,” she replied to the LCI journalist. The text of the Algerian national anthem was composed in Arabic during the war of liberation (1954-1962) and notably includes these couplets: “France, the time for palaver is over” and “France, here comes the day when you must be accountable.”
A verse never deleted despite attempts
The verse was never deleted despite attempts. Then in a decree of March 1986, an article stipulated that “the national anthem may be performed in specific circumstances or situations, in its full or reduced version”, recalled TSA. But, notes TSA, this decree had “not clearly fixed” when the national anthem could be performed in its full version or with the anti-French couplet expunged.
“This new decree is in short a way of formalizing things”, estimates the information site, observing that “in practice, the execution of the couplet citing France has been restored for a few years”. “He was notably executed during the inauguration ceremony of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on December 19, 2019,” he recalls.
The French minister, she stressed that the French national anthem was “not quite affectionate either”, but she stressed that “nobody” was quoted. For Catherine Colonna, “it is not a question of forgetting our history”, but of “looking it in the face, going beyond it and building the future”. Asked moreover about the visit of President Tebboune to France repeatedly mentioned for this spring but never materialized, the head of diplomacy replied: “I hope so, we are working on dates” but “they are not fixed”.