US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS1957

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001957 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ECON, AG, INRB, National Reconciliation 
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION WITH FORMER ALGERIAN PM GHOZALI 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
-------------------- 
 
1.  (C) Over coffee September 13, former Algerian Head of 
Government Sid Ahmed Ghozali told PolEc Chief that he opposed 
President Bouteflika's plan for National Reconciliation in 
its current form because there could be no forgiveness 
without a sincere effort to establish the truth, and without 
forgiveness there could be no reconciliation.  He admired the 
U.S. Constitutional system, complained that the GOA's 
campaign against corruption was for show, and said if the GOA 
had a true economic and financial reform plan the Government 
would be spending Algeria's financial reserves on preparing 
Algeria for the future. 
 
2.  (C) While his critique is somewhat overdrawn and 
simplistic, there is no question that the pace of reform has 
been slow and less decisive than most reformers would like. 
Despite his intellect and candor, Ghozali is not a political 
force in the country and did not particularly distinguish 
himself during his brief premiership from 1991-1992.  He is 
generally viewed as the perfect technocrat.  With his 
trademark bow tie and debonaire style, he also suffers from 
an image of being a Westernized Algerian, even though he 
comes from a strongly religious family in Setif where Arabic 
was the family's first and only language in his formative 
years.  In the 1999 presidential elections, he was unable to 
gather the required 75,000 signatures for his candidacy to 
proceed.  The Ministry of Interior also refused to allow the 
political party he founded, the Democratic Front, to 
organize.  Algerians might be more receptive to his views if 
the GOA, which controls all radio and television in Algeria, 
permitted him to appear on camera or behind a microphone. 
(End Summary and Comment.) 
 
OPPONENT OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION PROPOSED BY BOUTEFLIKA 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
3.  (C) Ghozali said he would vote against the referendum on 
National Reconciliation scheduled for September 29.  He said 
the GOA held a referendum on the Civil Concord in 1999.  That 
referendum, like the current one, was sold to the public as a 
necessary step to do away with terrorism and create national 
unity.  Since in 2005 a second referendum was necessary, 
Ghozali argued somewhat simplistically (since in fact the 
proposed charter is far more sweeping and controversial than 
the 1999 Civil Concord), the GOA was lying either in 1999 or 
today.  In any event, he thought it unlikely the pending 
referendum would resolve matters permanently any more 
successfully than had the adoption of the Civil Concord in 
1999.  Ghozali also opposed the September referendum because 
Algeria, unlike South Africa, had not confronted the facts 
and sought the truth of what happened during the dark years 
of terrorism in the 1990s.  Absent a sincere effort to 
establish the truth, there could be no forgiveness, in 
Ghozali's view.  Without forgiveness, there could not be true 
reconciliation. 
 
U.S. SHOULD PROMOTE DEMOCRACY IN REGION 
--------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Ghozali said he was an admirer of the U.S. 
Constitution.  He said when people thought of a political 
structure in France, a republic came to mind.  When people 
thought of Belgium, a constitutional monarchy came to mind. 
For the United States, the system could only be described as 
"constitutional," which was truly extraordinary.   While he 
admired the U.S. and its constitutional system, Ghozali said 
he did not agree with many U.S. policies.  He hoped the 
President was sincere about wanting democracy for the Middle 
East, but remained skeptical.  Would the U.S. hinder 
democratic development in the Middle East as the peoples of 
the region sought to rid themselves of dictatorship?  Would 
the U.S., wherever possible, help promote democracy?  He was 
not convinced the Administration wanted democracy if it meant 
that elected governments opposed U.S. policies. 
 
GOVERNMENT'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST CORRUPTION WAS FOR SHOW 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
5.  (C) Asked about the corruption charges brought against 
managers at Sonatrach, which he headed for over a decade, 
Ghozali said it was a show for the press.  One executive 
charged with corruption a few years ago had been named 
executive of the year.  Which was the lie?  According to a 
Director General at Customs who recently met with Ghozali, 70 
percent of senior executives at Customs were corrupt. 
Corruption was endemic in Algeria, said Ghozali, and the 
government was employing smoke and mirrors before the media 
rather than tackling the problem at its roots:  the 
insufficient salaries that bureaucrats earned. 
GOA LACKS A PLAN FOR FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC REFORM 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
6.  (C) Asked for his views on economic and financial reform, 
Ghozali said the GOA had made progress in privatizing state 
firms.  Unfortunately, private monopoly had replaced public 
monopoly in important areas, such as in pharmaceuticals and 
sugar.  Noting that ordinary Algerians complained that the 
GOA was hoarding its reserves from oil revenues and not 
spending on infrastructure needs and other improvements that 
would benefit ordinary Algerians, Ghozali said the large 
reserves demonstrated that the GOA did not really have an 
economic development plan.  If the Government had such a 
plan, he reasoned, the reserves would be spent on projects 
that would prepare Algeria for the future.  How, asked 
Ghozali, could Algeria profess to be making good progress on 
financial and economic reform when the country had no real 
banks and no capacity to make payments by check?  Serious 
reform was lacking. 
 
BIO NOTE 
-------- 
 
7.  (C) Ghozali was Head of Government 1991-92, Minister of 
Foreign Affairs (1989-1991), Finance (1988-89), and 
Ambassador to France and Belgium, also in the 1980s.  Ghozali 
is also considered to be the founder of Sonatrach, the 
state-owned oil company, which he headed from 1966 to 1979. 
 
ERDMAN