|
|
Algeria: Country Rocked By Debate Over President's Third Term Bid
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Nation (Nairobi)
7 March 2008
Posted to the web 6 March 2008
Laeed Zaghlami
Algiers
Constitution amendment and the bid for a third term are the key words you hear every day when you tune in to Algerian media.
Although, presidential elections are due in April 2009, proponents of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's candidacy have already sparked off their media campaign.
Mr Abdellaziz Belkhadem, Secretary -General of the National Liberation Front praises himself for being the first politician to declare his allegiance and that others are only followers.
In fact, politics expert Mohamed Medjahed notes that the whole public debate is being squeezed to only review the 1996 Constitution and claims that that enables the current president to stand for a third term.
Every political, social or cultural event in the country is seized as an opportunity to express support for constitution amendment.
Political parties and members of civil society are running a fierce competition to be on the first row of dedicated supporters of a third term for President Bouteflika.
Even independent parliamentarians, during ab recent workshop, agreed to 'join the club of Bouteflika's fervent supporters'.
"It is quite a curious attitude of the independents, says Nabila Amir from Algerian prominent paper El Watan'.
'How on earth can ordinary citizens understand their position?, how independent are they?", she asks. In a reply to his critics, Mr Mohamed Djemaï, vice president of the Algerian national and popular assembly and spokesman of the independent parliamentary group affirms that 'there is no room for ideologies, neither for political speculation and manipulations, we have to consider the interests the nation future and common' interests of the people'.
He continues 'our decision has been deeply discussed, matured and democratically adopted'.
Nevertheless, wonders Saad Bououkba, a well known commentator in the Algerian private press, 'if the Algerian people is really and genuinely supporting massively the constitution revision, are they the same citizens who overwhelmingly refused to vote during last May's general election?'.'
Coup d d'état
For his part, Mr Abdelhak Brerehi, former minister of high education in the 1980s and present secretary general of the Democratic Coordination Rally, considers 'the present media campaign as a prelude to a constitutional coup d d'état'.
|
Mr Abdelhamid Mehri, militant of the national cause, former diplomat, minister of education and secretary general of the National Liberation Front, found that the political climate is artificially garnished'.
He notes that "many political parties have a cosmetic presence on the ground and among the society whereas they actively appear in the public media'.'
Mr Mehri, suggests that we have to set up a political dynamism that enables all forces and Algerian people to act and participate in the democratic process'. An economic openness without a political transparency leads inevitably to corruption, mismanagement and popular discontent', he concludes.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
