Messali Hadj 1933

Program of l’Etoile Nord-Africaine

Source: Messali Hadj par les textes; textes choisis et presentés par Jacques Simon. Editions Bouchéne, 2000;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor.

FIRST PART

Immediate abolition of the odious Code de l’Indigénat and all measures of exception;

Amnesty for all those who are imprisoned, under special surveillance or exiled for infractions to the Indigénat or for political crimes;

  1. Absolute freedom to travel to France and overseas;
  2. Freedom of the press, association, gathering, political and union rights;
  3. Replacement of the Financial Delegations elected through a restricted suffrage by an Algerian Parliament elected through universal suffrage;
  4. Suppression of mixed communes and military territories. Replacement of these organisms by municipal assemblies elected through universal suffrage;
  5. Access to all public functions for all Algerians without any distinctions. Equal function, equal pay for all;
  6. Mandatory instruction in the Arab language. Access to learning at all levels. Creation of new Arabic schools. All official acts should be simultaneously published in Arabic and French;
  7. In the matter of military service, total respect for the Koranic verse that says: “He who deliberately kills a Muslim is destined to hell for all eternity and merits rage and malediction.”
  8. Application of social and labor laws. The right to unemployment insurance and family pensions for Algerian families in Algeria. Immediate granting of social insurance.
  9. Granting of agricultural credit to small fellahs, and a more rational organization of irrigation. Development of means of communication. Non-reimbursable assistance to the victims of periodic famines.

SECOND PART

  1. The total independence of Algeria;
  2. Total withdrawal of occupation troops;
  3. Constitution of a national army.

Revolutionary national government:

  1. A constitutional assembly elected through universal suffrage;
  2. Universal suffrage at all levels and the eligibility of Algerians for all assemblies;
  3. The Arabic language shall be considered an official language;
  4. The hand over to the Algerian state of the banks, mines, railroads, ports and public services taken by the conquerors;
  5. The confiscation of great properties taken by feudalists allied to the conquerors, the colonists and financial societies, and the return of confiscated land to the peasants. Respect for middle-sized and small property. The return to the Algerian state of Algerian lands and forests taken by the French state;
  6. Free and mandatory instruction at all levels in Arabic;
  7. Recognition by the Algerian state of the right to unions, coalitions and strikes; the elaboration of social laws.
  8. Immediate assistance to fellahs by the granting to agriculture of interest-free credits for the purchase of machinery, seed, and fertilizer; the organization of immigration and the improvement of means of communication, etc.

 

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