Latest update: 14/11/2008 

- Abdelaziz Bouteflika - Algeria


Algeria: a president for life?
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An amendment to the Algerian constitution has terminated presidential term limits. Will that tighten the grip of the party in power or protect the country's relative stability? How will it affect Algeria's arguable democracy?
By FRANCE 24 (text)

Click here to watch part 2 of the debate.

 

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, elected in 1999, has stopped short of saying he will run for a third time. Yet he supports ending the two term limit in order to "enshrine Algeria's democracy and confirm solid and durable institutions".

 

Algeria's parliament voted overwhelemingly in favor of the constitutional amendment by 500 votes to 21, with eight abstentions. But critics say the vote, conducted by raising hands, was not a secret ballot.

 

Bouteflika holds a large majority in parliament, where elected officials were recently granted a considerable president-approved pay raise.

 

Does abolishing presidential term limits help or hurt Algeria's arguable democracy?

 

Andrea Sanke's guests are:

Amel Boubekeur, leader of the Islam and Europe Programme at the Centre for European Policy Studies.

Jean Lamore, a writer and specialist on Algeria. 

Dr Mourad Dhina, co-founder and member of the Secretariat for the Rachad Movement.

Scott Carpenter, Senior fellow at the Washington Institute and Former Deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Near East Affairs.

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Algeria: A president for life?

by Al Kawthar (not verified) - 15/11/2008 - 17:08

Why is everyone surprised by this? This has been the plan all along and it's falling into place now.
Jean Lamore's constant comparison between Algeria and the US is just nothing but a joke. How can he say that the US was in a state of War and that anyone who criticized the government would be seen as a traitor is just not true. But the debate is not about the US but Algeria.
The western world has been blind to what has happened in Algeria since 1992 unless it had any interest in the situation.
Bouteflika's 1999 election brought some hope but that was crushed very quickly when Algerians are still living in fear and cannot afford the most basic things in life. Once again the Western World turned a blind eye to Algeria's social issues but kept buying Algerian's Oil and making Bouteflika's government richer and more corrupt.
How can we call Algeria a democracy when the constitution changes at the whim of the leader in place? The Bouteflika for life vote is not democratic since the people of Algeria did not vote and contrary to the US congress or senate, the Algerian Parliament does not represent the people....they represent their own interests.
Would Bouteflika's third term bring stability to Algeria? I doubt it unless the military wants the stability to happen.
Will Bouteflika's third term bring hope to Algerians? Maybe...Algerians seem to like the man but not his government. His speeches give some vision of hope but he cannot deliver what he promises as he is not the one making the big decisions.

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