Bouteflika yet to decide on third term

2008-08-29

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has long been expected to announce his intention to serve a third term in office, but in the absence of any public statements from the leader the opposition is beginning to heat up.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 29/08/08

[File] As Algeria's 2009 presidential election nears, only Moussa Touati, leader of the National Algerian Front (FNA) has declared his candidacy.

With less than eight months remaining before Algeria's next presidential elections, the national political scene is uncharacteristically silent. Unlike in previous elections, the 2009 poll has yet to draw a field of prospective candidates; even sitting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has not declared his intention to run for a controversial third term.

The only candidate to have thrown his hat into the ring to date is Moussa Touati, leader of the newly-created National Algerian Front (FNA) which caused a surprise in the last legislative and local elections by winning the seventh-highest number of votes. Touati announced his intention to run in a statement at his party's congress on August 22nd, but few are positive about his chances.

The reactions his declaration elicited in the press have been telling: Liberté printed under the headline "About Time!" that "Moussa Touati's announcement to run in the presidential elections comes as a welcome development. It makes no difference what position he occupies on the political stage; the important thing is we have now seen some action in the build-up to the election."

The only parties to have declared their hands are those within the coalition government. The president's own National Liberation Front (FLN), the largest party in parliament, announced its support for a third term for Bouteflika and the necessary constitutional reform over a year ago. The National Democratic Rally headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, widely tipped as Bouteflika's successor, has once again voiced its support for Bouteflika and an amendment to the constitution. The Movement for a Peaceful Society has likewise thrown its weight behind the president.

Ahmed Ouyahia stated just before the 2004 presidential elections that he would never run against Bouteflika. Another former prime minister and presidential candidate, Mouloud Hamrouche, has said that he will never stand again without the support of the army.

Even opposition parties have hesitated to field candidates. On Sunday the general secretary of the Nahda Islamist movement, Fateh Rebai, insisted that "it is still too early for me to comment on the presidential elections" and said that his party was waiting to see the details of the reform to the constitution before passing judgement.

The Socialist Forces Front (FFS) has not yet announced its stance on the presidential elections. The party, whose co-founder Hocine Ait Ahmed lives in Switzerland, had hinted at the beginning of the year that it might back Mouloud Hamrouche, a non-member of the FFS, since Ait Ahmed is unable to run for health reasons. However, neither Hamrouche nor the leadership of the FFS has made a clear statement of their intentions.

Said Sadi, leader of the Rally for Culture and Democracy and former presidential candidate known for his opposition to Bouteflika's policies on national reconciliation and concessions to Islamists has not yet announced his plans.

Bouteflika himself announced his intention to amend the constitution back in 1999, but has been silent on the issue in recent times. Speculation about his plans and well-being has been fuelled by rumours and evidence of ill health, including a hospital stay in 2006, as well as a decline in his public appearances.

Fears over a rash of terrorist attacks have raised questions about his leadership, and critics of the regime have raised questions about the pace of reform and the erosion of purchasing power at a time when the country is seeing record influxes of foreign currency.

Of greater concern to some, however, is the possibility that the widespread voter apathy that plagued the 2007 legislative and local elections will be repeated in the 2009 presidential race.