Amar Saidani’s foes set up a “crisis cell” to stymie convening of FLN party’s 10th Congress

Opponents of the Secretary General of the FLN party, Amar Saidani, have dubbed the projected holding of the tenth FLN Congress by the end of this month, as “fictitious and illegal and as incompatible with the provisions of the party itself and the law related to political parties in the country .”

Opponents of Amar Saidani said in a statement signed on their behalf, by a senior Member of the Central Committee, Senator Saleh Goudjil, that they had formed a “crisis cell to follow hour by hour, the situation of the party and that of the Central Committee members who refuse to take part in the planned FLN Congress”.

The statement was issued at the close of a broad-based meeting on Saturday, which brought together prominent members of the FLN Party Central Committee.

The statement estimated the number of Central Committee members opposed to the planned Congress convened by the current Secretary-General of the party, at about 178, and “urged the party’s rank and file to stand in the way of those who tamper with the party’s brand image, and to pursue the ongoing struggle so as to make the convening of the tenth party Congress tally with all the laws and regulations of the Republic.”

In a declaration to “Echorouk”, dissident central committee member and Senator Saleh Goudjil, pointed to what he described as “the dire circumstances now facing the party and the serious challenges confronting it, adding that this adverse situation prompted the relevant protagonists, to get together anew  in the hope of saving the FLN party from confusion and turmoil, as he put it”.

Earlier this week, the Administrative Court of Bir Mourad Rais district in upper Algiers put off an expected ruling on a complaint lodged by members of the FLN party Central Committee opposed to the Secretary-General of the National Liberation Front party (FLN) Amar Saidani, with the aim of securing the cancellation of the license granted by the Governorship of Algiers to hold the Tenth Congress of the FLN Party at the end of this month.

The Court adjourned a ruling on the issue without providing any justification to the dismay of Amar Saidani’s foes who are seeking to stymie the convening of the tenth FLN party congress in a bid to destabilize and unseat the current party leader.

In a reaction, FLN party Central Committee member Kaci Aissa said in a statement to Echorouk that the Court’s decision to postpone a ruling on the complaint tabled by some FLN central committee members was clearly due to strong pressure applied by the current FLN party Secretary-General Amar Saidani himself and his close entourage.

He added that the disgruntled central committee members would pursue their uphill struggle and wouldn’t yield to the “political blackmail and harassment waged by the current party Secretary General against all those who disagree with his heavy-handed policies”, as he put it.