Bouteflika pledges transparent elections

2011-12-19

The Arab League, United Nations, EU, African Union and other organizations will be invited to observe Algeria's parliamentary elections next spring, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told legislators on Sunday (December 18th). The elections will be followed by a revision of the constitution, in line with the Algeria reforms promised last April, he said.

The government will also authorize new political parties and launch a wide-scale media campaign about the parliamentary poll, Bouteflika said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/12/19/newsbrief-03.

End of consultation on political reforms ordered by President Bouteflika

21 June, 2011

ALGIERS - The political consultations ordered by the head of state Abdelaziz Bouteflika to reform his country ended Tuesday as scheduled after a month, it was learned from official sources, but they were boycotted by large opposition groups.

Senate President Abdelkader Bensalah surrounded by two presidential advisers surveyed a host of parties and leaders to hear their suggestions or demands.

"The meetings planned with political parties and personalities have been completed but the forum for consultations on the reforms will continue to work to develop a report to be delivered to the president," told AFP a source close to the proceeding.

In a speech April 15, Bouteflika announced reforms in response to the wave of social and political protest that shook Algeria in the wake of the Arab revolt.

"The department held an average of three meetings per day. It has received political parties except the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) and Socialist Workers Party (PST)" said the source.

The RCD has rejected the initiative, calling it "monologue against change" while the FFS found the reforms "not credible".

Many organizations and personalities, including former head of state Ali Kafi (1992-1994) have followed their path, the latter holding that "the regime does not want real change."

The parties of the ruling presidential alliance presented their suggestions, including the National Democratic Rally (RND) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia in favor of a presidential term limits.

Bouteflika had removed during a partial revision of the constitution in 2008, limiting to two the number of successive presidential terms which allowed him to have a third five-year term in April 2009.

These consultations should lead to proposals. Bouteflika will present his final version, which the government will submission to the National Assembly in September.

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/6888.html.

Algerians reject president's reforms

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Algerian protesters have rejected President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's proposed reforms, saying they seek major changes to the country's Constitution.

“The constitution is outdated and must be amended to meet public demand and avoid a possible Libyan scenario,” vice president of Movement of Society for Peace, Abderrazak Mokri, told Press TV in the capital, Algiers.

The opposition says the country's current Constitution gives too much power to the president, while banning religion-based parties.

Boutelfika says all political parties, whether or not represented in the parliament will play a role in Algeria's future under his proposed reforms.

The opposition, however, says Bouteflika's proposal will not bring about any real change.

Demonstrations are banned in the North African country, but youths have rallied several times in recent months, demanding political change.

Algerian police equipped with riot shields, helmets, bullet-proof vests and batons confronts the protesters and disperses any such gatherings.

(Source: Press TV)

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=240281.

Bouteflika cancels six exploration contracts with foreign companies

02 May, 2011

Algiers- President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has canceled contracts in millions of dollars by Sonatrach, signed by former Minister of Energy and Mines, Chakib Khelil with Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish and Gulf companies in the field of oil exploration in southern Algeria.

After the freezing of several contracts at the time of the former Minister Chakib Khelil, who left government immediately after what was known by “Sonatrach scandal”, involving the former CEO Mohamed Meziane and executives of the company, it was recently decided the cancellation of six exploration contracts with foreign companies, including three Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and U.S. Gulf.

According to information held by Ennahar six contracts relate to contracts concluded at the time of the former Minister Chakib Khelil between 2003 and 2006 to 2009. Among these contracts, an agreement with the Chinese company "Sinipac" on the exploration project which was signed in 2006.

Among the largest contracts that have been officially canceled, include one with the Spanish company "Ripsol" for exploration and exploitation of oil in the south of the wilaya of Illizi.

Ennahar / Mohamed B.

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/economy/6413.html.

Bouteflika signs 2011 Finance Act

2010-12-30

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Wednesday (December 29th) signed the 2011 Finance Act, APS reported. The new budget is based on a $37 per barrel crude oil price and 3.5% inflation rate. It provides for an economic growth rate of 4%. The 2011 budget introduces new tax incentives aimed at encouraging investment. Certain tax breaks benefit particular sectors, such as Algeria's milk industry.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/30/newsbrief-04.

Bouteflika visits Germany

2010-12-07

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika begins a state visit to Germany on Tuesday (December 7th). Bouteflika and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will "review the state of bilateral relations and explore ways and means to boost them so as to meet potentialities of the two economies", Bouteflika's office said. Merkel and Bouteflika will also discuss global and Euro-Mediterranean security issues.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/07/newsbrief-02.

Wikileaks: what Bouteflika said about the army chiefs

05 December, 2010

"Anyone can be a candidate for election, in accordance with the constitution, even a general." This is what President Bouteflika said, according to a report published by Wikileaks, during discussions with the head of Africom, General William Ward, during a recent visit of the latter in early December 2009.

Bouteflika underscored that Algeria's military "absolutely" respected the authority of civilian leadership. "This is not at all like Turkey," he said. Bouteflika asserted that the army was forced to take drastic measures during the violence of the 1990s in order to save the country. This was a difficult period, but constitutional rule had been restored. "The house is now in order," he stressed, "and I can tell you that the army obeys the civilians. There is one constitution and all obey it."

Bouteflika acknowledged, however, that the problems of the past still haunted the country. He cited foreign press reports referring to Algeria as a dictatorship and argued that the term was sometimes used carelessly. The Algerian constitution had established the rule of law. In 2004 it was decided that there was no more historical "revolutionary legitimacy". The only legitimacy was the constitution. "Anyone can be a candidate for election, in accordance with the constitution, even a general." He paused, then grinned and said, "But the generals realize the difficulties and none has been a candidate yet."

Egypt and Soccer

Bouteflika shared his perceptions of Egypt's anti-Algerian nationalism following the November 18 World Cup qualifying match. Bouteflika said the Egyptian media had overreacted to the situation and that Algeria did not plan to respond. Algeria could not afford to confuse its historical relationship with Egypt (past, present and future) with the outcome of a soccer match. He said Algeria and Egypt had a number of common political and economic interests and that his country had no desire to have a political crisis over the results of a soccer match. Some have urged Bouteflika to respond publicly to Egyptian claims. "I understand the Egyptians are responding to local conditions," he said, "but we won't take the same tack." Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Bouteflika asserted, asked to visit Algiers to mediate the issue. Bouteflika told Moussa there was nothing to discuss in Algiers and suggested Moussa might best mediate tensions by working with Cairo to influence Egyptian opinion.

Ennahar

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/5320.html.

President invites Algerian counterpart to visit Yemen

24/October/2010

ALGIERS, Oct. 24 (Saba)- President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika received on Sunday letter of credence of the newly appointed Yemeni ambassador to Algiers Jamal Nasir.

During the meeting, the ambassador handed over a message to President Bouteflika from President Ali Abdullah Saleh over the bilateral relations between the two countries as well as issues of common concern.

In the letter, President Saleh invited Bouteflika to visit Yemen within the framework of reinforcing the two countries ties.

The meeting shed lights on the bilateral relations between Yemen and Algeria and means of reinforcing and developing them in all fields to serve interests of the two peoples.

Source: Saba Net.
Link: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news227126.htm.

Algerian president submits candidacy

Algiers - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday formally presented his candidacy for a presidential election on April 9 that is being boycotted by the two main opposition parties, officials said.

Bouteflika was first elected in 1999 and is running with the support of a pro-presidential coalition in parliament composed of the National Liberation Front, National Democratic Rally and the Movement for Society and Peace.

Parliament in November voted overwhelmingly to eliminate a previous two-term limit for president.

Algeria's main opposition leaders have said the election is a "done deal" set up in Bouteflika's favor.

So far six other people have also submitted their candidacies ahead of a deadline of midnight Monday. Algeria's constitutional council is due to announce the official list of candidates within the next 10 days.

Louisa Hanoune of the Workers Party, Ali Zeghdoud of Algerian Rally, Djahid Younsi of the Islamic el-Islah movement, Moussa Touati of the Algerian National Front, Omar Bouacha of the El Infitah movement, and Rachid Bouaziz, an independent candidate, have also applied.

Algeria's Bouteflika seeks third presidential term

ALGIERS (AFP) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced Thursday that he will run for a controversial third term in April 9 elections he is tipped as certain to win.

Bouteflika, 72 next month, will face limited opposition with two of the main potential challengers boycotting the poll after parliament passed a constitutional amendment three months ago to lift a two-term presidential limit.

The leader of one of those parties has described the vote as a "pathetic and dangerous circus."

Promising to spend 150 billion dollars (117 billion euros) on development and create three million jobs over the next five years, the president confirmed his candidacy at a rally attended by around 5,000 people amid strict security measures, including the jamming of mobile phones.

He said he would stand as an "independent," pursue his policy of national reconciliation and "fight against terrorism with all necessary means" while leaving the door open to those who "repent."

Oil-rich Algeria could "continue its intensive economic development, despite the world economic crisis," he said, adding that public and private investment under his stewardship had created 3.5 million jobs since 1999 and lowered the unemployment rate from 30 percent to 12 percent in the same period.

First elected in 1999 and returned five years later with 84.99 percent of vote, Bouteflika said at Thursday's meeting that he will again promote "the politics of national reconciliation."

Having defied harsh criticism to grant amnesty to thousands of rebels in a war that claimed some 150,000 lives going back to 1992, it is a strategy which has already twice secured heavy endorsement in referendums.

"The dice were rolled" with December's constitutional amendment, commented Said Sadi of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD). The other principal opposition party, the Social Forces Front (FFS), has also refused to participate.

Of the 18 people to have taken out paperwork to run for office, only one, Algerian National Front leader Moussa Touati, had gathered the necessary signatures by Tuesday.

One Islamist is considered a possible candidate, while a Trotskyist who ran in 2004 is due to announce his decision this week also.

Former president Liamine Zeroual, who led the country from 1995 to 1998, has refused to stand and former prime minister Rheda Malek went so far as to quit politics entirely.

A leader of the country's Islamist movement, Abdallah Djaballah, has also announced he would not take part in the elections.

Born March 2, 1937, in Oujda, Morocco, of Algerian parents, Bouteflika joined the National Liberation Army in 1956 to help fight the war of independence against French forces, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives prior to victory in 1962.

At just 26, he became foreign minister, a post he held for 13 years, but was sidelined from government after the death of President Houari Boumediene in December 1978. He left political life in 1981.

Solicited in 1994 to take over the presidency, he declined, and the job was given to Zeroual.

After nearly two decades in the wilderness, Bouteflika returned from self-imposed exile in Switzerland to run in 1999 with the backing of the army.

He initially faced six rivals, but wound up standing alone when they all pulled out, crying foul.

Since coming to power, Bouteflika has already spent more than 150 billion dollars to modernize the country's oil and gas-rich economy.

There is now no limit -- other than nature -- on the number of presidential terms he could serve.

Algeria: Al-Qaeda message calls president a traitor

Algiers, 9 Feb. (AKI) - A new message purportedly from Al-Qaeda accuses Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika of betraying his country by allowing a CIA agent accused of raping two women while he was stationed there to return home.

"O beloved nation, what more do you want these rulers to do to make you to speak with one voice and say 'enough'!" said the message posted to Islamist websites.

"Doesn't this scandal prove to you that Bouteflika and his government are no different from that of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan or Nouri al-Maliki's in Iraq?" the message said.

The CIA has said one of its agents has returned to the United States after being accused last September of committing the two rapes in Algeria.

The scandal could take its toll on Bouteflika's prospects in polls taking place on 9 April. He is running for election to a third presidential term.

Algeria's President To Run For 3rd Term In April -Report

ALGIERS (AFP)--Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will run for a third term in elections in April, the leader of Algeria's nationalist party said Friday, according to local media.

National Liberation Front (FLN) chief Abdelaziz Belkhadem told Chaine III radio that Bouteflika, in power for 10 years, would run again, but declined to give an exact date of any official announcement, the APS news agency reported.

Bouteflika, 71, would make an announcement once the country's electoral council meets, Belkhadem said.

The electoral council is required by law to meet no later than 60 days before any election.

Although no exact date has been announced, the election is set for April.

The Rally for Culture and Democracy, a secular opposition party, announced Thursday that it would not field a candidate in the election, which its leader, Said Sadi, slammed as "a pathetic and dangerous circus."

Algeria's parliament voted Nov. 12 to abolish the mandatory limit of two presidential terms.

Candidates who wish to contest the presidential elections in Algeria must garner at least 600 signatures from elected officials and 75,000 from voters.

Bouteflika's ruling coalition enjoys a comfortable majority in the Algerian parliament.