Monday 18 June 2012

Algeria: Parliament closes without any business concluded


The new intake of MPs have gone off on holiday without any parliamentary business, except for the election of a president (Speaker) of the Assembly being agreed and put in place, so there is a speaker and little else. The crises within the FLN and RND, along with the boycotting of either parliament and/or parliamentary business by most of the opposition parties, have meant that the new Assembly is effectively blocked. There is no parliamentary office (Bureau de l'APN) in place. Aside from the president, neither have the nine vice presidents or the presidents of the Assembly's 12 commissions been appointed.

The result is that the country's MPs have gone on holiday without having voted on a single item of business. Algeria now has to wait until the autumn to know how the new Assembly will eventually get down to work.

While the main cause of this crisis is the FLN's infighting, plus the uncertainty over Ahmed Ouyahia's position as both Prime Minister and in his own political party, most of the opposition parties are also boycotting the process. As the majority party, the FLN would have five of the nine vice presidencies and six of the commissions. But, with the party in a state of crisis, no names have even been proposed. If the Green Alliance persists with its boycott of parliamentary business then its seats will revert to the FLN and RND.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

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