Algerian government seeking ways to improve public dialogue

Algeria’s government is studying ways to improve dialogue with the public including the use of social media, Communication Minister Nacer Mehal said here on Monday, a day after police cracked down on anti-regime rallies.

 Algiers was close to setting up measures to amend non-existent channels of information dissemination between the government and the wider population, he added.

The move aims at “organizing institutional communication and to reflect on instruments that allow to improve relations between the state and the citizens,” he told the French-speaking public radio Chaine III.

Communication was “absolutely non-existent, absent, or in any case, very inefficient. To say the least, it was not at all adapted to the present context. We need to improve that,” he added.

“We need to look into what channels of communication to use, including social networks.” Sites such as Facebook were key in organizing recent uprisings in the Arab world that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

The minister also vowed to “open up” ministries to journalists.