PARTI DE L'AVANT-GARDE SOCIALISTE (PAGS)

successor to the algerian communist party.

Created in 1966, the Socialist Vanguard Party (PAGS) succeeded the Algerian Communist Party (PCA), which had been founded in 1936 and banned in November 1962. The PAGS renewed its political activities under Houari Boumédienne's regime (1965–1978). University graduates, students, unionists, and workers made up the majority of the party. PAGS provided support to Boumédienne's progressive agrarian and industrial policies and his anti-imperialist foreign policy. In the 1980s the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) banned PAGS members from participation in state institutions or in the FLN's mass organizations. PAGS officially restarted its movement following Algeria's liberalization. In 1990 PAGS elected Hachemi Chérif as national coordinator. He succeeded Sadek Hadjerès, who had led the party since the 1950s. PAGS was renamed Ettahadi and later the Social and Democratic Movement (MDS) under the charismatic Chérif, who staunchly opposed Islamist ideology. Chérif contested Abdelaziz Bouteflika's disorderly economic liberalization, which resulted in massive unemployment because many state-owned enterprises were dismantled and sold to private owners without regard to the future of the employees. Chérif also disliked Bouteflika's cozy relationship with Islamists. MDS advocates a total break with the regime and calls for a secular democratic alliance that excludes Islamists whatever their degree of moderation.

see also boumédienne, houari; bouteflika, abdelaziz; front de libération nationale (fln).

Bibliography

Zoubir, Yahia H. "Stalled Democratization of an Authoritarian Regime: The Case of Algeria." Democratization 2, no. 2 (1995): 109–139.

yahia zoubir