Further to our report (Algeria Politics & Security - 26.07.13) of former prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia's recent meeting with DRS boss General Mohamed Mediène to discuss his possible candidacy for the presidency, members of his National Democratic Rally (RND) party have set up a National Salvation Front to bar his return to the political limelight.
According to reports in the daily Echorouk, hundreds, if not thousands, of militants belonging to the RND from at least 30 wilayas have threatened to block the holding of the party's upcoming congress if the current interim Secretary General, Abdelkader Bensalah, does not take the necessary measures to sideline for good those supporters of former Secretary General Ahmed Ouyahia who have been accused of fomenting chaos and disunity within the party.
Hafi Mohamed Hatem, a member of the so-called RND Salvation Front, or Bureau as he called it, from the Algiers wilaya, was quoted mby Echorouk as saying that Ouyahia's legacy had left the RND party in a pitiful shambles across all 48 wilayas of the country. Hatem also indicated that a National Salvation Front was being set up across 30 wilayas to act as a powerful lobbying force to stop the return of Ouyahia's supporters to the upper echelons of the RND and so save the party from what he described as 'dismemberment and implosion”.
Hatem also explained that the other main objective of this National RND Salvation Front was to do everything possible to preclude Ouyahia's political comeback. As we reported two weeks ago, there is pressure from his supporters, which may include the DRS, to stand as a candidate for the upcoming 2014 presidential elections under the RND banner, despite his resignation from the party earlier this year.
(Note: Ouyahia resigned from the RND on 3 January 2013 amid much acrimony and rancour. There was major opposition to him from the party's rank and file for his overbearing behaviour and divide-and rule policy.)
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© 2013 Menas Associates
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