Algeria’s desperate diplomacy, jubilation at marginal gains

The President has been deployed himself at what appears as a life or death election for the position of “deputy” African Union commission chairperson, which was won by Algerian diplomat Selma Malika Haddadi.

The Algerian large delegation- which came to campaign for their candidate equipped with lavished leather bags- burst out in jubilation in the African Union main conference hall chanting “one, two, three viva l’Algerie,” as if they have won the World Cup.

Algeria’s foreign minister Ahmed Attaf let out a sigh of relief followed by intense kisses caught on camera to his countrywoman, in a show of the stress they went through.

The exaggerated celebration for a minor position within the African Union commission shows the extent to which the Algerian regime is on the decline within the continental organization, struggling and jubilating for a symbolic post of deputy chairperson.

The fact that the rival in this election was Morocco’s former diplomat Latifa Akharbach explains the desperation of the Algerian regime for achieving whatsoever gains in the face of Morocco.

Algerian mouthpieces celebrated the election of their countrywoman as a “return” of Algeria to the African Union, recognizing between the lines the decline of the country and its isolation in a continental organization that turned the page of empty ideological rhetoric so dear to Algiers.

The jubilation couldn’t have taken place had the countries of Niger, Mali, Guinea, Gabon and Burkina Faso been allowed to vote.

At the end of the jubilation, the Algerian regime will realize that the job is not about Algeria but rather about the continent. Malika Haddadi will work under the orders of the commission chairman, Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, whose country- like the majority of Africa- back Morocco on the Sahara issue.

Winning a minor position in the African Union will offer some fuel for the propaganda machinery that is directed to sedate the Algerian people amid a growing international isolation and a worsening social and economic crisis.