In 1991, Algeria held its first multiparty elections since independence. Ahmed Zaoui stood as a candidate for the Islamic Salvation Front ("Front Islamique du Salut" or FIS). However, the government cancelled 1991 elections after the first round results showed that the FIS would win, citing fears that the Islamist party would end democracy. When the government then banned the FIS and arrested thousands of its members, Islamist guerrillas rapidly emerged and began an armed campaign against the government and its supporters which became the Algerian Civil War.