1 - The Algerian political scene has experienced a deep funnel in the aftermath of the recent presidential elections. This settling has been caused by the issue of the transition to democracy. • We have on one side the established power that refuses to see the need for this transition; • And on the other side, an opposition that is unified and claiming this transition as the priority of the current stage. 2 - How is the domestic opposition organized? • There is the Pole of the Forces of change, which includes 8 parties and national figures; • And there is also the National Coordination for freedom and the Democratic Transition that includes five parties and national figures. • Since June 10 these two components of the domestic opposition are unified and they creates on 10 September a common structure referred to as the Instance monitoring and Concertation of Opposition (ISCO). 3 - Is there again? • Since the countrys independence, this is the first time that a very large part of the national opposition has managed to unify its ranks. • Despite ideological differences and different political identities of the components of this opposition, it is also the first time that this domestic opposition means on a political programme calling for the Organization of a democratic transition. • During the past 23 years the Algeria has experienced only two attempts of democratic transitions all at the initiative of the Government. The first, in 1989 that I call the granted transition which stopped abruptly in the early 1990s with the emergence of terrorism and the second in 1995 that I call the coopted transition that has been stopped and questioned with the arrival of Mr Bouteflika to the authority in 1999. Therefore, also, the first time that this is not power up but the domestic opposition that took the initiative to demand for a democratic transition. • We all agree within the opposition that this transition is consensual, gradual and peaceful. 4 - For myself, I proposed in my program for the presidential, that motto a society of liberties, essentially the following:-I say that the Algeria had cruelly need to upgrade democratic and that it had become priority and urgent; -I also say that this democratic upgradecould be successful only through a realpolitical partnership for the transition between the power and the opposition. -I say, moreover, that the citizenship and the popular sovereignty should be put at the heart of our democratic life; - And I say finally that I constituerai a Government of national unity to implement the major political, economic and social reforms which the country needs. and that I join all representative political forces the revision of our Constitution to bring it into line with universally recognized democratic standards. 5. After more than questionable in which conditions the last presidential elections were held and given the obvious political crisis facing the country, we are faced with three major challenges that we must meet:-ago today in Algeria a real crisis of regime that we need to adjust. -There is a democratic transition to organize; -There is the nature of our regime political change in operating the passage of a personal power to a democratic power; 6. me and my friends within the Pole of the Forces of change have proposed an approach to support all its three challenges through what we call a global process of settlement of the political crisis. It is a process involving three successive stages. I would like to say a few words about this global process we offer and its three steps we are considering. 7. the first step in this process would be devoted to the crisis of regime. The treatment of this crisis of regime is urgent and should, therefore, be a priority. Why do we say that there is now a crisis of regime in Algeria? Mainly for three reasons:-the first reason is that there are today in Algeria a power vacuum. And not a few activities that we do perform at Mr. Bouteflika from time to time which will be sufficient to deny this reality. In a reflection that I just published I myself have identified 21 reasons to finding of the power vacuum. Our constitution provides for this scenario but, unfortunately, it is prevented to know. -The second reason is that the countrys institutions are almost off. The Council of Ministers meets more than very rarely and the Parliament did pass laws per year throughout the last decade averaged only 7. Mr Bouteflika has operated such a concentration of powers between his hands that now that his abilities are affected, other institutions are condemned to inactivity. -The third reason is that the Algeria lacks legitimate institutions from the bottom to the top. All our institutions, the Commune, the Wilaya Assembly, the Parliament and the President of the Republic, became the product of fraud. Recently I published a white paper or we dismantled one fraud mechanisms. The content of this book has not denied to this day by the official authorities. So we have today in our country a constitutional crisis related to the power vacuum, an institutional crisis since institutions assume more their prerogatives normally and a crisis of legitimacy of these institutions. This is what as jurist and politician I call a crisis of regime. This type of crisis resolves only way everywhere in the world: the return to the polls and by popular suffrage. This is what we call by insisting on the fact that such a return to the ballot box must be carried out under the authority of an independent, transparent and credible body. 8. This is the first step. The second step would be for its part devoted to the Organization of the democratic transition. This democratic transition would be organized and conducted by the legitimate and representative political forces that the first step will be made emerge beyond any doubt. As part of this democratic transition:-a Government of national unity would set up to manage the transition and lead the major political, economic and social reforms that require national consensus as broad. -A Pact for the transition would be adopted and codify binding political commitments to protect this transition against the always possible slippages. -A new Constitution would be drafted in broad partnership with all political forces. -Im considering everything a presidential term - 5 years - to carry out all these tasks. It would in fact be a transition mandate. 9 - The third stage would be the change in the nature of our political system, i.e. move from a personal power to a democratic power. It will take time. It is not enough to change the Constitution to change a political system. Need a new political culture; need a new political practice; need to expand areas initiatives and freedoms; We must learn to design the opposition as an indispensable actor of democratic life and not only as political an opponent in combat; We must prepare for the emergence of a genuine civil society; We must, in short, prepare and used the power to live with counter-powers. 10. I would like to conclude saying that if democratic transition we are at square one, this is due to the constitutional revision of 2008. Without it, we would not now face a crisis of regime. Without it our democratic progress could continue gradually. This constitutional revision locked our country into the trap of personal power for life and may even be hereditary power.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 15:16:02 +0000
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