A Second Reading Of The Law On Associations On The Government Table

The Minister of the Interior and Local Assemblies, Mr. Ibrahim Mérad, revealed that a second reading of the text specifying the conditions and methods for establishing associations had been conducted in order to raise it to the ranks of organic law, indicating that the new text currently at the level of the General Secretariat of the Government includes provisions related to the protection of associations from the risks of being exploited in money laundering operations and terrorist financing.
The Minister of the Interior explained on Monday, before the members of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Associative Activities of the National People’s Assembly, that the new text related to associations will deepen democratic practice and enshrine the constitutional right to form associations, as stipulated in Article 53 of the Constitution of November 2020, stressing that his ministerial department has worked to collect proposals and involve all actors in the process, with the aim of obtaining an integrated text.
Most of the proposals presented in this regard – said Mr. Mérad – focused on the right to form associations and carry out their activities as soon as they receive the certificate of registration authorizing their establishment, while allowing the association to seek self-financing sources that will allow it to achieve its objectives and implement its projects, and allowing the establishment of partnerships between municipal associations. And states and between states that adopt similar objectives or work in a field.
Among the proposals contained in this text is the emphasis on the need to devote the public financing approach to collective projects by the State, to the provinces and the municipalities, instead of subsidies directed to the financing of annual programs that are not subject to any control.
In accordance with the recommendations of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a draft of this text has been submitted, according to the Minister of the Interior, to national bodies for enrichment, in particular to the National Observatory of Civil Society, which has organized many meetings and courses on the matter.
In this context, the senior official of the Ministry of the Interior revealed the registration of 8 requests for membership in foreign organizations during the last 3 years, in addition to 9 files to establish cooperation relations with foreign parties, which is what the law allows – says the Minister – provided that the subject of cooperation is consistent with the objectives listed in the basic law of the association, and that the foreign organization seeks the same objectives as the Algerian association.
During the same period, i.e. from 2020 to 2023, the Ministry of the Interior received 26 files from national associations regarding the receipt of donations from abroad.
During the same period, more than 1,952 national associations were registered, including 63 interstate associations. A total of 6.3 billion dinars in direct subsidies from municipal budgets and 4.3 billion dinars in direct subsidies from the state budget were allocated to the latter in 2023.
On the other hand, the members of the Youth, Sports and Associative Activities Committee of the National People’s Assembly took advantage of the meeting that brought them together with the Minister of the Interior, Local Assemblies and Country Planning to raise several other concerns, most notably the fate of the new Municipalities Law, which has reached an important stage of revision and processing, and the same goes for the Political Parties Law, which the political class had previously demanded. There is a need in the country to reconsider them and broaden the consultations on them.