European Forum

Algerian president promises reforms

On 19 March Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president, promised wide-ranging political reforms in his country, while security forces blocked planned protests in the capital Algiers. In comments carried on state media the 19th of March, Bouteflika said that the lifting of Algeria's 19-year-old state of emergency last month was the first step on the way to reform. The end of the state of emergency "will be a new page opened on the path to comprehensive reforms ... which can not be fruitful in the absence of political reforms," Bouteflika quoted. However he gave no details about the reforms.

Since last February demonstrations have taken place in Algeria inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. In Algiers security forces swamped the capital on the 19th of March, hampering two rallies, one called by youths through the social networking website Facebook, due outside the main post office, and another at the nearby May 1 Square, called by the National Co-ordination for Change and Democracy (CNDC). The planned protest was the seventh attempt since January by the CNDC to stage a weekly demonstration, along the lines of pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab world, in defiance of a ban on protests in the capital imposed in 2001. A small number of protesters reportedly made it through the security barricades. Many Algerians have expressed discontent about high unemployment, poor housing conditions, high prices and restrictions on political freedoms.
Political reforms proposed by some Algerian politicians include amending the constitution to limit presidents to two terms in office, and allowing new parties to register.

Source; AlJazeera; Photo: Flickr magharebia