Algeria deeply divided as it prepares for constitutional vote | Politics

Algerians are set to vote on November 1 on proposed constitutional changes more than a year after massive street protests forced ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign.

The constitutional amendments are part of reforms that incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune promised after being elected last December.

Tebboune has been criticized by the Algerian protest movement, known as Hirak, for being part of the Bouteflika regime, which ruled Algeria for 20 years, despite Tebboune being fired three months into his tenure as prime minister.

In recent weeks, controversy has raged in Algeria over the draft constitutional amendments.
Proponents praise the proposed changes, saying they herald a “new Algeria” based on the rule of law, while opponents criticize them as a boost for autocracy, saying they give the president more powers.

The amendments limit the presidential term to a limit of two terms, of five years each. In the current constitution, adopted in 1996, there is no limit on the number of times the president can run for office.
However, the draft statute gives the head of state powers to appoint the governor of the central bank, the chief judge of the Constitutional Court and four of the 12 members of the court.

The head of state is also empowered to appoint the head of a commission charged with overseeing elections in the country.

Critics say those powers and others retained from the Bouteflika-era constitution contradict Tebboune’s promises to eradicate autocracy in Algeria.

“The draft document establishes an autocracy because it makes the office of the president like that of an emperor, interfering with the work of the legislative and judicial authorities,” said Algerian human rights lawyer Mostafa Bouchachi.

“I do not believe that with these proposed amendments the foundations can be laid for a new Algeria of democracy and freedom for which Algerians took to the streets on February 22, 2019,” Bouchachi added in a public statement to Tebboune last month.

February 22, 2019 was the day the street protests against Bouteflika began in Algeria. Bouteflika resigned less than two months later.

Many of Hirak’s protesters are calling for a boycott of the upcoming vote, arguing that going to the polls means legitimizing Tebboune.

Meanwhile, Islamists in Algeria have their own concerns about the draft constitution, saying it will strengthen secularism in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

The Society for Peace Movement, Algeria’s largest Islamist party, is pushing for a vote against the changes.

Islamists mainly oppose a draft article that states that state authorities protect mosques “from any political or ideological effect”, considering it as a target of their influence.

Islamists also say that the proposed letter does not include an explicit article that Islamic law, or sharia, is a source of legislation in Algeria.

Soufiane Djilali, the head of the New Generation Party, sees the situation differently.
“The proposed amendments open the door more to personal and collective freedoms,” Djilali told dpa.

“For example, under the new constitution, the authorities are obliged to approve political parties when their application files comply with the law. This has not been the case before,” he added.

The New Generation Party was among the staunch opponents of the Bouteflika regime and joined the street protests against him.

“The constitutional amendments include clear concessions in favor of the rule of law,” Djilali said.

Those changes, he added, protect freedom of belief, strengthen women’s rights and facilitate procedures for licensing print and electronic newspapers.
“All these factors will help create a new political class that breaks free from the shackles of the past and builds a democratic future,” he added.