Charter change paves way for post-Bouteflika era: Ex-minister

By Abdul Razak bin Abdullah

ALGIERS

Abujarra Sultani, an ex-government minister and former head of the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), Algeria’s main Islamist party, says recent constitutional changes will "pave the way to Algeria’s post-Bouteflika era".

In 2014, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika -- who has remained in power since 1999 -- was elected to his fourth five-year term in office.

In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Sultani asserted: "The recent constitutional amendments will open a new page for those who will come after Bouteflika."

Early last month, Algeria’s parliament approved a raft of constitutional changes, which -- among other things -- will limit future presidents to two five-year terms in office.

The changes were approved with 499 MPs voting in favor, two opposed and 16 abstaining.

"These amendments will usher in a new political and constitutional era for Algeria," Bouteflika -- who had proposed the changes -- told parliament after the vote.

Along with setting president term limits, the amendments also made Amazigh -- the language of Algeria’s Berber minority -- an official language (while retaining Arabic as the country’s first language).

- ‘Democratic transition’

Sultani, who between 1996 and 2012, held a number of ministerial posts, told Anadolu Agency: "We’re currently seeing a phase of democratic transition, from a group of leaders who have been ruling Algeria for the last 50 years -- since its independence in 1962 -- to those who will next take up the reins of power."

As to who exactly the country’s next leaders would be, he said: "For the last half-century, Algeria has been governed by the revolutionary circle [those who participated in the liberation war against France between 1954 and 1962]. The next period will be led by the sons of those freedom fighters and the children of the martyrs who fell in the war."

With regard to opposition demands for early presidential elections due to questions about the 79-year-old Bouteflika’s health, Sultani asserted: "Early elections would only exacerbate the situation; holding polls ahead of schedule tends to rattle the organizational structure of state institutions."

"Early elections are usually held either to resolve or preempt political crises," he said. "But in my opinion, there is no political crisis in Algeria -- although there are financial and economic problems due to falling oil prices and the falling value of Algeria’s currency."

In terms of the opposition's ability to present itself as a viable political force in the upcoming phase, Sultani stated: "The opposition's attitude toward the recent constitutional changes is revealing… if it was a serious opposition, it would have been able to forge a unified stance on the constitutional poll by voting for or against or abstaining."

Notably, last month’s vote on the constitutional amendments was boycotted by 89 opposition MPs in Algeria’s 606-seat assembly.

- Fears of turmoil

As for repeated warnings by Algeria’s opposition of a popular "explosion" due to mounting frustration, Sultani -- who led the MSP from 2003 to 2013 -- said: "Algerians are fed up with conflict and turmoil. There is a pervasive fear of national tragedy [in reference to the country’s bloody civil war in the 1990s] in the collective Algerian psyche."

In reference to the wave of popular uprisings that erupted in several Arab countries in early 2011 -- and its bleak aftermath -- he added: "There is also foreboding about the ‘Arab Spring’, especially after the setbacks seen in the countries affected, where the people have paid a very high price in blood for the democracy they had hoped for."