Hocine Ait Ahmed Algeria’s oldest opposition party, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), said Friday it would take part in May legislative elections after two consecutive boycotts in 2002 and 2007. Some believe this move adds legitimacy to the elections and suggests the secular party feels it has a fair shot.
In a letter to members of the ruling council of the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) Hocine Ait Ahmed said it was time to re-mobilise the party and re-enter politics.
"Participation is a tactical necessity for the FFS and is part of our strategy to build a democratic alternative to this corrupt, destructive and despotic regime," he wrote from Switzerland, where he is in self-imposed exile.
In a relevant context FFS Secretary General Ali Laskri stated "Our goal is to mobilise Algerians peacefully and politically to change the institutional political status quo". This decision to run in the upcoming elections came despite the reservations of many of his party members,  This follows the  announcement made by Abdelaziz Bouteflika that he would not run for a fourth term in office and  could lead to a vast change in the Algerian history due to regime change.
Meanwhile,  the Rally for Culture and Democracy party (RCD) chief Said Saadi announced  his party was boycotting the elections, accusing the Ministry of Interior and the intelligence services of defaming the party in order to displace it from the elections.
The Algerian authorities expressed their concerns about the voters' reluctance to cast their votes in the upcoming elections due to their loss of confidence in the various political groups.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika said last month that the election will be a success if turnout is high and therefore participation should  be in everybody's interest.
Bouteflika called all the political parties, unions, organisations and civil society to work on mobilising voters and to give them advice about casting their votes which is a civil duty.