Morocco World News with Maghreb Intelligence
Morocco World News with Maghreb Intelligence
Rabat, December 16, 2012
Several leading Algerian personalities have chosen the end of the electoral process, with the proclamation of the results of local elections, to sound the alarm about the situation in the country. The most virulent was, undoubtedly, the former Prime Minister and former Finance Minister Ahmed Benbitour. An experienced economist, famous for being an honest politician, Benbitour vilified in Algiers’ press the Algerian authorities’ blindness that is jeopardizing future generations of Algerians.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s former Prime Minister, who resigned for incompatibility of temper with the President, believes that the current tenant of El Mouradia is leading the country to chaos. Ahmed Benbitour admitted to his entourage that economic governance in Algeria is catastrophe. “On the price of an Algerian barrel of oil that is exported, $ 70 are spent on operating expenses and not investment,” Benbitour said recently. Benbitour is joined in his pessimistic analysis by Abdelmejid Attar. The former CEO of Sonatrach foresees that Algeria will come to a breaking point concerning its oil exports in 2022.
The same opinion was expressed by Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s adviser on Human Rights. In an interview wirh the Algerian public radio, Farouk Ksentini, who is usually on the power’s side, drew a pessimistic picture of the political situation, which he described as “mafia-like” and subject to “electoral bargaining.”
Ksentini acknowledged that “things are not improving “ in Algeria. On this point, another highly respected personality in Algeria did not mince his words. Ahmed Mahiou, an eminent constitutionalist, said in a conference in Algiers that democracy in the country had declined since the constitutional reform of 2008, which gave all powers to the President of the Republic.
The former dean of Algiers’ Law School did not fail to indirectly comment on the recent elections that saw the emergence, out of the blue, of a new party, the Algerian Popular Movement, considering that the establishment if a multitude of parties is “anti-democratic”.
This burst of criticism faced by the Algerian government and coming from personalities that are widely respected have, according to connoisseurs of the Algerian political scene, a common thread. Several centers of power in Algeria fear that the country is slipping back into a devastating crisis. They are allegedly pushing for Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s succession to be a detonator to put an end to current situation.
