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Algerian Government might Suspend Opposition Parties Boycotting the Elections | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A prolonged boycott by MPs could delay president Bouteflika’s promised constitutional reforms due this year [Reuters]


Algiers – Minister of Interior and Local Authorities Noureddine Bedoui announced that the Algerian government could suspend the opposition parties which threatened to boycott the parliamentary elections. Ali Benflis’ party objected statements of the minister saying that these statements are the government’s attempt to control the political life in the country.

Earlier, Bedoui announced that the opposition’s decision to boycott elections is a dangerous deviation and violation of the parties’ right to choose their own political aspirations.

Ahmed Adimi, spokesperson of Talaie el-Hourriyet led by Benflis, said that these statements are rejected. Yet, he added, that what the minister said didn’t come as a surprise because they speak of political regime that is “only creative and in suppressing freedoms and subdue political and civil rights.”

The Minister of Interior criticized the parties that decided to boycott elections claiming that it is already settled for the parties loyal to the government. Bedoui challenged those who doubt the integrity of the elections in May saying they are trying to change the regime with another Arab Spring, which the Algerian government view as a failure and chaotic.

Adimi wished the government used those creative methods in getting Algeria out of this political block and eliminate dangers that threaten the country.

The spokesperson criticized the authorities saying this political system is original in finding a new scapegoat to blame for its own failures and fiascos. He urged the officials to get back to their senses, stressing that the next legislative polls, which the government is so keen on holding, is not up to the concerns of those who are anxious about matters that threaten the state.

The Algerian opposition impugns the credibility of the government’s reforms launched by President Abdulaziz Bouteflika in 2011, and ended in 2016 with the amendment of the constitution.

The opposition views these reforms as the regime’s guarantee to continue ruling.

Adimi said that the government is only good at threatening the opposition. He added that political parties are not a charity work from the government to the people, but rather a constitutional right which Algeria committed to when it agreed to international treaties including the International Declaration for Human Rights.