Algerian president calls for early elections
ALGIERS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid declared pardons for jailed anti-government activists and called early elections, as the crisis-hit country grapples with renewed protests on the second anniversary of a popular uprising.
The North African nation is facing political and economic crises, with the coronavirus pandemic adding to the woes of an oil-dependent economy.
In an address to the nation, Tebboune called for the dissolution of parliament and said he will also carry out a government reshuffle.
“I have decided to dissolved the National Popular Assembly and call for elections,” Tebboune said, in a speech broadcast on state television.
He pardoned dozens of jailed activists of the “Hirak” protest movement and appealed to young people, many feeling disenfranchised and struggling amid high rates of unemployment.
Tebboune said he wanted to “open the doors of parliament to young people,” adding that youths “must have political weight.”
Algeria, Africa’s fourth-largest economy, saw oil revenues collapse in 2020, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicting a 5.2 per cent recession.
Legislative elections had been scheduled to be held in 2022, but Tebboune wants early polls to take place before year’s end, potentially as early as June, and by September at the latest.
The vote would be held on the basis of a new electoral law that is yet to be adopted, which would impose strict financing regulations to stop funding from abroad.
Tebboune, who has previously expressed dissatisfaction with the cabinet of Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad, said the government reshuffle would take place “within 48 hours at most.”
He said the reshuffle would “concern sectors which have shown shortcomings that are being felt by the people and us,” without elaborating.
Algeria on Friday released a dozen prodemocracy activists from jail, the first batch freed under presidential pardons issued ahead of the second anniversary of a popular uprising.
Tebboune’s initiative comes on the eve of the Hirak’s second anniversary on Feb.22, with calls on social media for demonstrations on Monday to mark the day.
The National Commitee for the Liberation of Prisoners (CNLD), a rights group, announced the release on Friday, with more detainees expected to be released soon. Relatives of prisoners and journalists gathered outside the Kolea prison, west of the capital Algiers.