Algeria : Former Prime Minister back on tracks

Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika anointed the former Prime Minister, Ahmed Ouyahia as a new head of the government replacing Abdelaziz Belkhadem appointed as the president’s spokesperson.

• M. Ouyahia left the political scene in May 2006 when he was replaced on top of the government the same Abdelaziz Belkhadem and appeared sporadically o the occasion of the different election campaigns.
• The general opinion was not surprised to this new governmental reshuffle especially that M Ouyahia made his big return on the scene as the personal envoy of the president in different political events, seen by experts as a strong signal from the president to make of him his trust man.
• The appointment of Ouyahia comes against the backdrop of a hidden crisis within the governmental coalition where he openly criticized his predecessor’s program during the previous campaign.