The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abdelaziz Bouteflika

  • Algeria to hold presidential election July 4

    Algeria will hold presidential election on July 4, the interim presidency on Wednesday said after weeks of mass protests led to the resignation of long-serving leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

    No further details were immediately given. On Tuesday, Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah had said he would organise free elections within 90 days.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Algeria’s army chief said he expected to see members of the ruling elite in the major oil and natural gas-producing country prosecuted for corruption and that he would support a transition toward elections.

    Lt.-Gen. Gaid Salah’s comments were the strongest hint yet that the military would play its traditional role as kingmaker after the ailing 82-year-old Bouteflika bowed to popular pressure and quit on April 2 after 20 years in power.

    “The army will meet the people’s demands,” said Salah, addressing officers and soldiers at a military base. “The judiciary has recovered its prerogative and can work freely.”

    He referred to the ruling caste as “the gang’’, a term people have used in the protests to describe Bouteflika’s inner circle.

    The inner circle encompassed retired intelligence officials, oligarchs, members of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) and some veterans of the 1954-62 war of independence against France.

    The army chief of staff urged the judiciary to reopen a corruption case against oil and gas giant Sonatrach, an object of resentment for many Algerians, who accuse their leaders of stealing the North African nation’s wealth.

    More than one in four people under the age of 30, some 70 per cent of the population, are unemployed – one of the central grievances of protesters, who want the economy liberalised and diversified to reduce its reliance on energy.

    In 2012, a series of scandals shook Sonatrach, which was tightly controlled by Bouteflika loyalists.

    Its CEO and other executives were imprisoned for graft offences.

    The army patiently monitored the unrest, which started on Feb. 22, from the sidelines. Then Salah intervened, declaring Bouteflika – rarely seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 – unfit to rule.

    If Bouteflika had seen through his original plan to run for a fifth term in spite growing grassroots opposition, that would have put the military under pressure to restore order, instead of focusing on swaying politics from the shadows.

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  • Algeria awaits constitutional signal on Bouteflika’s fate

    Algerians waited on Wednesday for a decision by the constitutional council on whether ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is fit for office, after the top army officer called for his removal in a bid to defuse mass protests.

    Lt-Gen. Ahmed Gaed Salah, addressing officers in a speech broadcast on Tuesday, said the solution to the biggest political crisis since the army canceled elections in 1992 would be the exit of the president on health grounds.

    The position taken by the powerful army chief of staff was a clear signal that the president, who has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, will not survive the protests which have threatened to topple the ruling elite.

    The political turmoil has highlighted growing public discontent with the allegations of corruption, nepotism and economic mismanagement that have tarnished Bouteflika’s 20-year rule.

    “This is a default solution following the failure of the negotiations on the departure of the President.

    “It moves away from the democratic transition and approaches a framed succession,” said Hasni Abidi, a Swiss-based Algerian who heads a think tank.

    That approach may break a deadlock for now.

    READ ALSO: Buhari condoles President Bouteflika, Algerians over military plane crash

    Protesters are pushing for an overhaul of the powerful establishment entrenched in power since independence from France in 1962, and the old guard hopes it can put forward a candidate approved by the army.

    For years, rumours have swirled about potential successors but no single credible candidate has emerged with the backing of the military, the political and security establishment who is not at least 70.

    The next formal step is for the constitutional council to formally rule on Bouteflika’s fitness for office. The body has not said when it might reach its decision.

    Any ruling that he is not fit to rule would have to be ratified by members of parliament’s lower and upper house by a two-thirds majority.

    Based on Article 102 of the constitution, the chairman of parliament’s upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days in the nation of more than 40 million people.

    The last time the army stepped in during a crisis was in 1992, when the generals canceled an election that Islamists were poised to win.

    That move triggered a civil war that killed an estimated 200,000 people.

    The military remains highly sensitive to any signs of instability and Salah has warned he will not allow the demonstrations to lead to chaos.

    The stakes are high, for Algeria is a leading member of OPEC and a top gas supplier to Europe, although so far oil and gas output appears unaffected by the unrest, an International Energy Agency (IEA) official said on Tuesday.

    Algeria is also regarded by Western states as a partner in counter-terrorism, a significant military force in North Africa and a key diplomatic player in efforts to resolve crises in neighboring Mali and Libya.

  • Merkel visits Algeria to discuss migration, terror

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel traveled to Algeria on Monday to discuss migration issues and how to combat terror.

    Another aim of the talks with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers is to boost Algeria’s role as a stabilising factor in North Africa, Merkel’s office indicated.

    The chancellor is also meeting Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia during the one-day trip.

    Merkel was also expected to address the long-standing conflict between Algeria and its western neighbour Morocco.

    A planned visit in February 2017 was cancelled at the last minute as a result of Bouteflika’s health.

    The president is 81 years old and has been in office since 1999.

    Algeria is a major transit route for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

    Read Also: Five die in stampede after Angolan soccer match

    The German government is under domestic pressure to cut migration.

    One of the aims of Merkel’s trip is to facilitate the deportation of Algerian nationals whose applications for political asylum have been denied by Germany.

    Germany’s grand coalition plans to characterise Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco as “safe countries of origin,’’ thus, easing the repatriation process for the German authorities.

    While in Algeria, Merkel is to visit a girls’ high school initiated in 2008 by the German Foreign Office as part of its “Partners for the Future” programme.

    She will also hold discussions with representatives of civil society.

  • Nigeria, Algeria pledge to defeat terrorism

    Nigeria and Algeria have pledged to strengthen cooperation in order to defeat terrorism on the continent.

    Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, stated this in a statement in Algiers after holding talks with the Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, at his official residence on Tuesday.

    “Mr. President has expressed a very strong support for the fight against Boko Haram and, we intend to cooperate in the months and years ahead to ensure that we are able to defeat terrorism in Africa,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Osinbajo as saying in the statement.

    The vice president acknowledged that the talks covered several issues.

    “I have just finished meeting with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika few moments ago, and we discussed a very wide variety of issues.

    “As you know, Nigeria and Algeria have had very strong relations over the years and we are also partners in the Bi-National Commission which was established in 2002.

    “We are resuscitating that bi-national commission and there are agreements, especially economic agreements which we are considering resuscitating,’’ he said.

    Osinbajo mentioned the Trans-Saharan Highway, the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline as well as the Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic projects as issues discussed at the talks.

    “These are some of the economic issues we are looking at and we have also discussed very widely with Mr. President on issues of cooperation in the African Union,’’ he added.

    The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Kadijat Buka Abba Ibrahim, said diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Algeria began since 1962, adding that it had grown stronger by the day.

     

  • Algeria’s Bouteflika suffers ‘mini stroke’

    Algeria’s Bouteflika suffers ‘mini stroke’

    Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been flown to hospital in Paris after suffering a mini-stroke, the state news agency said.

    Mr. Bouteflika had a “transient ischemia” – a temporary blockage of a blood vessel often called a mini-stroke – an official told the APS news agency.

    But he said there was “no reason for worry” about the 76-year-old leader.

    The agency said Mr. Bouteflika, who makes few public appearances – was undergoing tests in Paris.

    He is reported to be at the Val de Grace military hospital, commonly used by high-profile patients from France and beyond.

    “An initial investigation has already been opened and his Excellency the president of the republic must observe a period of rest to undergo tests,” Rachid Bougherbal, the director of the National Sports Medicine Centre, was quoted as saying by APS.

    BBC reports that Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal echoed Mr. Bourgherbal’s assurances that there was no need for concern.

    But the fact that he has been sent to Paris has prompted questions about the accuracy of the official account, the report says.