Algeria: “The opposition warns against presidential polls with no candidates and no voters”
Most opposition parties in Algeria have discounted the repeated statements by the Interior Ministerial department about the increasing number of would-be candidates flocking to the ministry to retrieve the application forms for registration for next April’s presidential polls, saying that the constitutional council itself has the final say in the validation or the rejection of candidacies.
Political observers note that the opposition political class has of late been gripped by uncertainty and confusion on account of the still undeclared position of incumbent President Abdellaziz Bouteflika regarding his participation or his non-participation in the next presidential electoral contest.
Owing to his frail health condition following last year’s stroke, incumbent Bouteflika is not likely according to various predictions to vie for a new term in office but several parties close to the establishment including the FLN, the RND, TAJ, MPA have been clamouring for weeks on end that Bouteflika will well and truly stand as a candidate for a fourth straight mandate during the forthcoming elections set for April 17th 2014.
The leader of the “Djil El Djadid” (New Generation) party, Djilali Sofiane told Echorouk that the retrieval by would-be candidates of registration forms from the Interior Ministry premises is just a formality and could be done by proxy.
He stressed however that the final endorsement of the candidacies was devolved upon the constitutional council which should require by virtue of the law the physical presence of the candidate himself at its premises with in his possession all the relevant documents including the candidate’s certified health track record.
Mr Djilali Solfiane emphasized to this effect that in case Bouteflika’s paltry health track record was eventually endorsed by the constitutional council, such a move would be tantamount to a serious and blatant breach of all the laws and regulations.