Abdelaziz Rehabi: “No Presidential Elections in the spring of 2014”

Presidential Elections will not take place in the spring of 2014, in light of the geopolitical shifts that have been imposed on the political scene of the country, former Communication and Information Minister, Abdelaziz Rehabi said at the “Liberté” French-speaking newspaper’s forum.

“I am convinced that there would be no Presidential Election in April 2014, as planned in the political agenda of the country, because everyone knows that the president’s health situation does not allow him to activate the campaign”.

“This hypothesis prompted President surroundings to develop other scenarios, that would ensure impunity for at least two years due to corruption cases which pursued them and this through the extension of the mandate of the President, which is the least expensive and less risky form for him, as the current presidential term will be extended for two years after the ratification of the next version of the Constitution.”

In response to a question about the intentions of Bouteflika to run for a fourth term, Rehabi asserted that all Algerian Presidents since independence tried to sit on the throne of presidency for life except for Zeroual, adding that in 2008 started the date of amendment of the Constitution, which opened presidential terms and Bouteflika begun the preparation for the project of presidency for life since that time, not recently as some people think.

“This confirms that Algeria is swimming against the current of the Arab world, as Algeria will become the only country in the region with a president for life.”