“The time for palaver is over”, a verse with anti-French accents reintroduced in the Algerian anthem

It is a far from trivial decision in view of the tensions that marred relations between Algiers and Paris. Three weeks ago, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune reintroduced the third verse of Kassaman, the country’s national anthem. Only here, the words in question are quite openly aimed at France. “O France! The time for palaver is over. We have closed it like one closes a book. O France! The day has come when you must give an account. Get ready! Here is our answer. The verdict, our revolution will give it back, Because we have decided that Algeria will live”, can we hear when the anthem is played in full.

A fairly infrequent situation in Algeria where, in the majority of cases, the anthem is confined to a single verse. Only the FLN congress and the investiture of the President of the Republic allowed Kassaman to express himself in his long version. Through this new decree, Abdelmadjid Tebboune wishes to extend the number of events during which the verse in question will be declaimed. It must thus be sung during “official commemorations in the presence of the President of the Republic” but not in the event of an official visit by a foreign head of state. Good news for Emmanuel Macron if by chance the French president intended to go to Algeria before the end of his five-year term.

Tensions around migration policy

However, some Algerian elected officials have tried in the past to convince the authorities to repeal the problematic couplet on the grounds that it made Algeria the only country in the world whose anthem named another state. Request rejected by a dedicated commission in the 1980s, under the chairmanship of Chadli Bendjedid. Two similar attempts took place in 1967 and in 2007, without more success.

This affair is part of a context of tensions between Paris and Algiers. Since Algerian independence, obtained in 1962, thus ending 130 years of French occupation, the two countries have maintained tumultuous relations. But in recent months, the hiccups have tended to multiply. Algiers did not appreciate the exfiltration to France of the Franco-Algerian opponent Amira Bouraoui, under the influence of a conviction in Algeria.

And does not taste much of the criticism addressed to him in France about his migration policy. In an interview with The Express, former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe suggested renegotiating the 1968 agreement which governs the reception and conditions of stay of Algerian nationals on French territory. And which gives them certain advantages over other foreigners. The president of Horizons did not hesitate to pin a “fait accompli immigration”. What considerably refresh the relationship between the two parties. The official visit of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, initially scheduled for May 2 and 3, has also been postponed.