Rabat – A Supreme Court Judge ordered the arrest of Senator Djamel Ould Abbes in Algiers on Sunday, July 7, 2019. The vice-president of Algeria’s senate was charged with the squandering of public funds, the forgery of official documents, and the signing of illegal deals.
Ould Abbes, close friend and ally of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, waived his parliamentary immunity in June 2019. The move came amid increasing pressure on Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) concerning corruption allegations.
Ould Abbes’ government career began in 2012, coinciding with the start of the Bouteflika regime. In 2013, he became a member of the Upper House of the Algerian parliament; the Council of the Nation. The recently detained minister also served the general secretary of the ruling FLN from 2016 to 2018.
Since the resignation of Bouteflika, the judiciary has launched a series of investigations into corruption, targeting state officials close to the former President. Ould Abbes is the latest in a growing list of Algerian high-ranking officials and prominent businessmen to be arrested for corruption.
Former prime ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, former commerce minister Amara Ben Younis rank among the arrests. Further big names in the corruption clampdown include national security chief Abdelghani Hamel and two of his sons.
In 2018, Algeria also dismissed a series of top military officers for alleged corruption.
Adalberto Agozino examined the political turmoil in Algeria’s military in his 2018 article for the Alternative News Agency of Argentia. The analyst interpreted the dismissal of the military chiefs as a means to reinforce Boutefika’s candidacy for a fifth term and make his campaign successful.
Ongoing protests in Algeria
Protests in the North African country first erupted in February 2019 over Bouteflika’s decision to run for a fifth consecutive term, despite having suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013.
Bouteflika eventually resigned in April 2019. However Algerian citizens continued the widespread protests, calling for a complete overhaul of the political system.
On June 2 2019, the Algerian Constitutional Council stated that the promised election, scheduled to take place on July 4, was to be postponed. This delay came after authorities rejected the candidacy of the only two, little known, potential runners.
The reasons behind the rejection have not been made public.
Then, on Wednesday, July 3, Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah called for a national dialogue to improve the country’s election process, in which he promised the state and army would remain neutral.
The National Forum for Dialogue agreed on the creation of an independent body to prepare the polls, composed of figures chosen by “the parties of dialogue with the exclusion of symbols of the former political regime.”
“We agreed to have these presidential elections in order for our people to have their first democratically elected president in a transparent way,” said Ali Benflis, former Prime Minister.
“[The polls] will grant a strong legitimacy to the new president in order that he categorically bring the change,” he added.
According to Abdelaziz Rahabi, a former minister who has supported the protesters, the initiative “seeks to put in place mechanisms to end the crisis and move, in a reasonable time frame, towards the organization of a presidential election.”
However, on Saturday, July 6, 2019 opposition parties and activists convened in Algiers to call the rejection of the national dialogue and to demand for elections to take place in six months.
The National Forum for Dialogue agreed on the creation of an independent body to prepare the polls, composed of figures chosen by “the parties of dialogue with the exclusion of symbols of the former political regime.”
“We agreed to have these presidential elections in order for our people to have their first democratically elected president in a transparent way,” said Ali Benflis, former Prime Minister.
“[The polls] will grant a strong legitimacy to the new president in order that he categorically bring the change,” he added.
According to Abdelaziz Rahabi, a former minister who has supported the protesters, the initiative “seeks to put in place mechanisms to end the crisis and move, in a reasonable time frame, towards the organization of a presidential election.”
On Algeria’s national Independence Day, Friday July 5th, 2019 pro-democracy protesters took to the streets across Algeria, adding yet more pressure to the ruling authorities.
“Yes, to a civilian state! No to a military dictatorship” read one sign, reinforcing the widespread call for accountability in reference to the military’s stance on the protests..
In June 2019, General Ahmed Gaid Salah said in a statement that protesters “hold grudges and animosity towards the army and its command” and are “undoubtedly enemies of Algeria,” further fueling tensions.
Another sign read “No dialogue with traitors,” in response to interim president Bensalah’s appeal for a dialogue prior to the elections.
Protesters also chanted slogans against any elections organized by a “mafia gang.”
