Some media are even suggesting that the government is planning a cabinet reshuffle

Algeria's president begins talks with the opposition over possible early elections

photo_camera PHOTO/AFP - The Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune

The Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who was in Germany due to health problems, has returned to the country and resumed his agenda this weekend with a round of consultations with political parties, including the opposition, with a view to holding early legislative elections, according to representatives of some parties. 

According to the president of the nationalist El Moustakbel Front, Abdelaziz Belaïd, the head of state "plans to dissolve parliament and organise early legislative elections (...) The dissolution of parliament could take place in the next few days, perhaps on Thursday," he told the private television channel Echorouk on Sunday. 

Sofiane Djilali, leader of the opposition Jil Jadid, in an interview with the 24hdz channel, said the elections scheduled for 2022 would be held "no later than June 2021". 

Two of the main opposition political forces welcomed by Tebboune were the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), the main opposition Islamist party, and the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS), one of the oldest opposition parties. 

Manifestantes portan pancartas y banderas durante una protesta en la que se exige la destitución de la élite gobernante y el enjuiciamiento de antiguos funcionarios vinculados al expresidente Abdelaziz Bouteflika, en Argel (Argelia), el 14 de junio de 2019

In a statement, the FFS urged the country's president to "take strong measures to restore the confidence of Algerians and reflect a real political will to bring about the desired change". The socialist formation also demands the release of prisoners of conscience, the opening of the political and media field, and the lifting of restrictions on the exercise of fundamental individual and collective freedoms". Another demand is an end to the harassment of political activists, associations and trade unionists. 

Tebboune, 75, returned to Algiers on Friday after being hospitalised for a month in Germany, where he underwent surgery on his right foot due to complications generated by COVID-19. On his arrival he was received at Bufarik airport, west of the capital, by the acting president of the Council of the Nation, Salá Gudjil. 

The meetings took place between Saturday and Sunday against a backdrop of social tension as the second anniversary of Hirak, the popular protest movement that took to the streets on 22 February 2019 to demand democratic reforms and ended with the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who led Algeria for 20 years, approaches. 

During his last years at the helm of the country, the aging former president was in poor health after suffering a stroke in 2013 that left him unable to serve as president. Even with that, he tried to run for a fifth term, but the outcry from the streets forced him to give up. 

Eight months later Tebboune was elected, and in addition to the dialogue he is now offering to the different political parties, after his election he was in favour of a reform of the constitution, which, however, was rejected by most of the demonstrators, who see in Tebboune a continuation of Bouteflika's regime and the main ills afflicting the Maghreb country, such as corruption.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika

In late January, two former prime ministers, Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, were sentenced to 15 and 12 years respectively for a corruption case involving a car company and the illegal financing of Bouteflika's last election campaign. 

A large number of Bouteflika's businessmen and associates have been arrested since his departure from power. The judiciary claims to work independently and without orders, but protesters are not satisfied with its performance. 

Despite promises of democratisation in the country, there is still repression against political activists for their participation in protests and their comments on social media. This is the case of Ualid Kechida, who was arrested for publishing cartoons critical of the country's president and sentenced to three years in prison. In the end, however, the founder of the Facebook group "Hirak Memes" had his sentence reduced to one year in prison, with six months suspended, and was released from prison after the time he spent in pre-trial detention was deducted.

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