Contrary to what was usual during previous years, the tradition of political parties organizing their summer universities witnessed a noticeable decline this summer. So far, only the National Construction Movement has organized its summer university last month, while some other parties, such as Hamas, are expected to organize their own universities. End of this summer.
Summer universities were a prevalent tradition during the periods of political openness in Algeria after the 1989 Constitution, and were invented by the socialist parties for the political formation of those involved and members, but today they are witnessing a noticeable decline. In reading the reasons, the positions of the parties and experts vary, but in general they are limited to the state of the political climate in the country or partisan problems, especially divisions and lack of budget.
A member of the Political Bureau of the Workers’ Party said, “The summer universities that the party used to organize depend mainly on the contributions of activists, while they require high costs at a time when the purchasing power of the activists has declined.” Thus, this situation explains, according to the spokesman, how the collapse of purchasing power affects work. The politician. The leading member revealed that “the Labor Party decided to replace the summer university with regional meetings similar to Jijel, while holding discussions at the level of the rest of the offices.” He also explained that the party decided to allocate a day for training in every meeting of the leadership bodies. He concluded by stressing that “the failure to hold summer universities is not due to a lack of important topics, including the Niger crisis, as it is an issue that directly affects national security, but rather it is related to the harassment to which the parties are exposed.”
In turn, a member of the National Assembly, Ahdado Mhanni, confirmed that the Socialist Forces Front party devoted itself to celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of its founding, and therefore did not organize a summer university this year. For his part, the leader of the New Dawn Party, Halim Bin Buaibish, believes that “the decline in the holding of summer universities by political parties in general is due to two main reasons: first, the financial problem, and second, a problem related to the party’s vision.”
The spokesman explained in a call with Al-Khabar: “As for the financial problem, many parties are suffering financially, which makes them unable to bear the financial costs of summer universities.” He continued, adding, “But there are parties that have the financial capacity but do not organize summer universities, because they believe that they are merely useless meetings, even though political upbringing and formation depend primarily on the training courses that are the focus of summer universities for political parties.”
Legitimacy of survival
For his part, a leading member of the National Liberation Front party revealed that “the absence of summer universities goes beyond the financial aspect, as the major parties receive state contributions according to the number of members of the People’s Assembly, in addition to the contributions of those involved.”
The leader considered that “the new generation of party leaders avoids organizing summer universities, as they create a space for participants and members to meet and exchange ideas, as well as to evaluate the party’s situation, which may create a kind of internal opposition.” Thus, leaders who fear losing their place are now avoiding, according to the same source. Organizing summer universities. The spokesman concluded by stressing that this situation is not in line with what was demanded by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who stressed the necessity of strengthening the internal front through parties that have begun to throw the burden of awareness on the authority and the military institution.
As for the political analyst, Adnan Mahatali, he believes that the organization of summer universities has a direct link to the activity of the parties themselves, and he said in contact with “Al-Khabar”: “As we see in Algeria, and unlike countries whose societies enjoy high political awareness, the activity of the parties is not permanent and continuous, but rather circumstantial, linked to At electoral stations.
He continued: “The Algerian state organized the presidential elections, the vote on the constitution, as well as the parliamentary and local elections within a relatively narrow time frame, and this is what caused the party activity to be limited to that field, creating a state of vacuum after that, and the parties entering into a state of hibernation that cast its shadow.” To organize summer universities as well.
Regarding the financial problem, the analyst said, “Funding parties is what ensures that they carry out their political activities, and that this funding is linked to electoral entitlements, whether from the state or collecting activists’ contributions.” He continued, “The absence of benefits means a decline in state funding and activists’ contributions, and this may reduce the parties’ ability to organize party activities, including summer universities.”
New tradition
While parties move to organize summer universities whose programs revolve around discussing and evaluating annual activity and training young supporters, others periodically go to my events to organize press conferences and study periods. A new trend towards training academies has also emerged, an experience carried out by parties and adopted by others, but the idea seems to be expanding. And generalization.
There are many reasons for parties resorting to training academies, including that parties found embarrassment in the presence of elected representatives in popular assemblies, including parliament, who do not have a university level or higher education, nor political culture, nor the culture of the state, and thus they work to educate their elected representatives.
The transition of political parties to the style of political training academies and the establishment of programs to create youth leaders confirms a major transformation in party work, through the choice of scientific and pedagogical direction in the mechanisms of political formation of young leadership cadres, which makes summer universities reduce their roles to raising party concerns, discussing solutions, and searching for positioning. In the political scene.
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