Algeria: Prime Minister unveils the government's five-year plan

Also on Sunday 1 June, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal unveiled the government's plan of action for the next five years. As so many of the government’s five-year plans have come to grief in red-tape, delays, postponement, corruption and general inefficiencies, and are little more than annual reiterations, they are no longer taken quite as seriously as in the early years of the Bouteflika era.
Nevertheless, the National Press Service (APS) gave it top billing alongside the start of Ouyahia’s constitutional consultations.

According to APS, the plan is particularly focused on national security and stability, as well as building an emerging economy. In tones reminiscent of the earlier and more optimistic years of the Bouteflika era, Sellal said that the plan aims to enhance national reconciliation by convincing militants to lay down their arms and return to mainstream society. At the same time, counter-terrorism will be reinforced to safeguard homeland security.

As part of that reconciliation, Sellal said that Bouteflika had decided to "lift the ban on leaving the country for some people suspected of terrorism”. Although Sellal declined to name these people, he was referring to the lifting of travel bans issued against members of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which was dissolved by court order in 1992.
Members of the now-dissolved FIS continue to oppose Bouteflika's government. It was strongly opposed to his fourth mandate, boycotted the April elections and is now boycotting the latest constitutional reform process.

Sellal also said that the government would hold regular dialogues with civil society and elected assemblies. He claimed the government was working to divide power among the judiciary, the legislature and the executive branches, pledging that reform will continue to improve public service of justice in a bid to make it fully independent and free. These are, however, all promises that Algerians have heard many times before and no longer pay much attention to.

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

© 2014 Menas Associates

French Defence Minister visits Algiers

Even more pressing for Algeria was the visit of French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to Algiers on Tuesday 20 May, his first visit to Algiers. He met Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, Defence Chief General Gaïd Salah, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and President Bouteflika himself. Details of their discussions have not been released, but are known to have centred on the deterioration of the security situations in both Libya and Mali.

It is widely believed that Le Drian asked Algeria for support for France’s new counter-terrorism mission for the Sahel which had been announced on 8 May. (For full details see Sahara Focus.) This will see a further 3,000 French troops deployed throughout Niger and Chad, in addition to 1,000 retained in Mali. Such support is more likely to be logistical than in the provision of Algerian troops, which Algiers would almost certainly decline.

It is also being rumoured that France broached the subject of Algerian intervention in Libya, although nothing has been publically released in that regard and, at this stage, it would seem very unlikely. 

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

© 2014 Menas Associates


 

European Commission President visits Algeria

The European Commission President José Manuel Barroso arrived in Algeria on Saturday 6 July for a two-day visit. He began by meeting Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest.

 

The most significant outcome of his visit was the 7 July signing by Sellal and Barroso of an MoU between Algeria and the EU on energy. It seeks to boost the excellent energy co-operation between the two sides and open promising development prospects. It covers all aspects of co-operation in energy - both conventional and renewable energies - including technology transfer, expertise and management. Barroso said that the EU also wanted to establish closer ties with Algeria in the economic and political fields. “We are very interested in having even closer ties [with Algeria]. My visit aims at strengthening ties in the field of political dialogue and economic co-operation.”

 

Barroso said before his departure on Monday that economic development and bilateral trade would help ensure stability in the broader Maghreb region. “We believe that enhanced regional co-operation would bring benefits in terms of prosperity and security, both for the countries of the region and the European Union,” he said. With reference to the In Amenas terrorist attack, he said the EU is committed to stability in Algeria. “Algeria is a key partner for the EU, both at the bilateral and regional levels … Natural gas is a strategic issue for both parties: Algeria is a major supplier to Europe, while Europe is by far the largest customer of Algeria.”

 

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

 

© 2013 Menas Associates