Algeria uses blackmail and vote-buying after AU’s Peace and Security Council failure

RABAT - Algeria on Wednesday turned to vote buying and blackmail following its failure to regain a seat on the African Union’s Peace and Security Council.

African nations dealt a huge blow to Algeria’s hopes of securing the seat on the Peace and Security Council.

Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, chaired the Moroccan delegation at the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union, which was held as a prelude to the Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State, scheduled for February 15-16.

The Executive Council meeting was marked by the election of five members of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC).

The vote was conducted by secret ballot, making it impossible to ascertain which specific countries declined to endorse Algeria’s candidacy. 

This outcome contrasts sharply with Morocco’s successful election to the same council, where it obtained more than two-thirds of the votes. Algeria, which enjoyed considerable influence within the Peace and Security Council between 2003 and 2021, had hoped to regain its lost influence, but in vain.

Hespress reported that according to sources at the Addis Ababa meetings, since Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s arrival onThursday, bags started moving through the halls of the hotels in the Ethiopian capital to manipulate an election that was originally meant to be a routine diplomatic event.

“after failing to secure a seat on the Peace and Security Council, Algeria, fearing another disappointment, sent a team of mediators with one job, which is to convince others using attractive arguments,” said the sources.

“New elections will be held soon, mainly because no one in Africa trusts this military regime anymore,” they added.