In the afternoon of Thursday, March 16, the presidency of the republic through its director of communication announced a government reshuffle that affects six ministerial positions.

Argelia: una remodelación del Gobierno sinónimo de fracaso e inestabilidad

In three years of governance, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the president of the republic elected on December 12, 2019 after a ballot boycotted by more than 70% of the electorate, has consumed 5 governments including 3 foreign ministers.


The latest reshuffle was notable for the departure of the docile 70-year-old foreign minister, Ramatane Lamamra, who has been off the radar screen since February 26. He was conspicuous by his absence at the audience granted on March 13 by President Tebboune to Josep Borell, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.


The absence of the head of Algerian diplomacy has raised many questions both in diplomatic circles and at the level of national public opinion. His eviction from his post is mentioned while raising many theses. Some say he resigned after being tired of the countless setbacks suffered on the international scene, which are attributed to the inconsistency of Algerian government action. Others announce him as the next card of the military for the succession of Tebboune. Another thesis counts him among the victims of the latter, who finds him too soft for his taste to defend Algeria's positions abroad.

Ministros de Asuntos Exteriores de España y Argelia

In any case, Ramatane Lamamra, this enarque of the 70's, ended up once again taking the exit door after 1 year, 8 months and 9 days. He did better than in 2019 when he was fired after 20 days (March 13 to April 02, 2019) when he had just been appointed Deputy Prime Minister in addition to the portfolio of foreign affairs, and as Minister of State Special Advisor to the President of the Republic for Diplomatic Affairs. A position he held for barely 24 days (from 15 to 11 March 209) before being dismissed. These ephemeral appointments to ministerial positions amply justify the nickname of Minister Kleenex.


Exit of the minister of shortages 


Another dismissal that caused a lot of ink to flow even before this reshuffle was that of the too controversial Kamel Rezig, Minister of Trade and Export Promotion. This university teacher had already made news when he was teaching economics at the University of Blida. He was accused of having plagiarized his doctoral thesis. His landing at the Ministry of Commerce in the first government of Tebboune in January 2020 raised many questions as the man known for being a conservative but not predisposed to be a minister. Moreover, since his arrival at the head of this ministry very neuralgic the Algerian market has not ceased to experience jolts marked by cyclical shortages affecting all food products of first necessity.

Yacimiento de gas en Argelia


Oil, semolina, milk, sugar, etc. are disappearing from the shelves of stores. Long queues are formed everywhere in Algeria in search of products affected by shortages. It started with milk and then extended to oil and shortly after is the semolina and so on. To this day, there are jostles to snatch a bag of semolina and long queues day and night to buy a bag of milk.
While the shortages did not cease to annoy the population, the Minister of Commerce proposed a project that sanctioned the use of a language other than Arabic on the signs of shops causes protests. Yes, this only happens in Algeria. It repeats in January 2023 by typing, always beside the plate.

After the 2022 soccer World Cup in Qatar, he announced a campaign to raise awareness of products bearing the colors of the rainbow, which he equated with an LGBTQ symbol. A toll-free number is launched, allowing individuals to report these products for a police raid. Monsieur a pénurie, who remained in government for three years thanks to his wife's good relations with the president's daughters and the first lady, finally cleared the floor to the delight of all Algerians.


A minister with a primary education


60 years after its independence, Algeria stands out from all the countries in the world by the appointment of a minister with a primary education level. It is the new holder of the portfolio of youth and sports. It is the Algerian champion of the high jump at the beginning of the century and bronze medalist at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Abderrahmane Hamdi. This is not surprising for those who know the functioning of Algerian institutions and the criteria for co-opting officials in different sectors. It is enough to have a sponsor in the security and intelligence services or a general to be able to claim a ministerial or diplomatic or parliamentary post. Thus goes Algeria.

Presidentes de Argelia y de Francia

On reading the names of the new ministers and the portfolios affected, in particular foreign affairs, trade, sport, finance and water, any informed observer can only conclude that the government is incapable of putting in place a development strategy to take advantage of the oil manna that many countries envy Algeria.
On the international scene, the isolation of Algeria is no longer in doubt. Not a single Arab country supports the Algerian theses in favor of the Polisario Front against the Moroccanity of Western Sahara. Diplomatic discord with France and Spain, two major partners, in addition to the rupture of relations with the Moroccan neighbor and all that this entails in terms of hostile gestures that are sometimes childish.. 

Estados Unidos apoya la autonomía del Sáhara bajo soberanía de Marruecos

Regular admonitions from the United States of America expressed by numerous American emissaries. 
But instead of courageously facing up to these failures, the current government persists in its headlong rush to change both the structures of the army and the government, getting bogged down in a destabilization that could cost it dearly.

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