Algeria: Opposition MPs Object To Contentious Shale Gas Bill Inside Parliament

Numerous MPs on Monday expressed their opposition to a draft law regulating the controversial shale gas exploration and the “suppression of freedoms” in Algeria at a session of parliament attended by Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and government members.

The lawmakers voiced opposition to the draft law as Premier Sellal and members of his cabinet entered the people’s national assembly to attend the first meeting of parliament’s new spring session in Algiers.

The opening of the Parliament’s spring session comes in line with Article 118 of the Constitution and Article 5 of the organic law 99-02, organizing the proceedings of the lower and upper houses and governing relations between Parliament’s two houses and the government.

MPs that led firm opposition to the contentious bill belonged to “Green Algeria,” an Islamist coalition comprising three political parties and including 49 lawmakers.

There are a total of 462 lawmakers in Algeria’s parliament. Opposition Islamist lawmakers carried banners inside the parliament building bearing slogans critical of shale gas exploration in the country’s south and boycotted the opening session as a sign of protest.

They also protested what they described as the recent “suppression” of peaceful rallies against shale gas exploration in the south of the country notably in In Salah.

Late Sunday, at least 40 policemen were hurt in clashes with protesters opposed to planned shale gas exploration in southern Algeria, according to the Interior Ministry.

“The southern town of Ain Salah saw riots by youths opposed to shale gas exploration in the region,” the ministry said in a late Sunday statement.

“Unfortunately, the riots left 40 policemen injured, including two who are in serious condition,” it added, noting that a number of police buildings had also been torched.

According to the ministry statement, calm was now restored in the town after security forces “contained” the situation.

Local activists told media outlets earlier that at least 20 other people had been hurt in similar clashes in Tamanrasset, which is also in southern Algeria.

Protesters in several parts of southern Algeria have held near-daily rallies since last December to pressure the authorities to halt shale gas test drillings in the area but the government has so far refused adamantly to back down on the issue.

With estimated reserves of some 19.8 billion cubic meters, Algeria is the world’s third-largest holder of shale gas after China and Argentina, according to a recent assessment report by the U.S. government.