The French-Algerian memory is once again in the spotlight. On Sunday, April 18, President Macron estimated in the columns of the newspaper Le Figaro that “the desire for reconciliation” was widely shared “in Algeria,” despite some opposition. “On the Algerian side, very hostile voices are heard. very critical.
According to several local media, Abdelmadjid Chikhi said at a conference that colonial France had lowered the level of education for Algerians and thus contributed to the spread of illiteracy, that is, the number of people who do not know or read or write. Asked about the report by the French historian Benjamin Stora, he once again declined to comment, still advising President Tebboune on memory issues.
He had recently qualified for this Great Report as “French-French”. Is Abdelmadjid Chikhi an illustration of these “resistances” that Emmanuel Macron talks about in his interview yesterday with Le Figaro about the reconciliation of memories? All this in an obstacle to French-Algerian relations.
Just over a week ago, Algiers suspended visits by French Prime Minister Jean Castex. The small size of its ministerial delegation would have been taken badly by the Algerian authorities. A committee has also recently been set up for the French presidential party in Western Sahara that has strained Algiers’ unwavering support for the Polisario Front, but for an observer this is not the direct reason for the visit being suspended. The specialist and journalist Akram Belkaïd sees in all these premature statements backfires ignited by an Algerian regime in difficulty on its domestic stage with the recovery Hirak demonstrations.
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