Bouteflika Strips Ouyahia Of The Title Of Presidential Office Director

President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, stripped the General Secretary of the National Democratic Rally, Ahmed Ouyahia, of the post of Director of the Presidential Office for three full weeks, and referred him to a compulsory holiday, as he did with the government ministers who are candidates for the May 4 legislative elections, in the first decision of its kind in the Algerian elections’ history.

Official sources told Echorouk that the President Bouteflika referred the director of the presidential office, Ahmed Ouyahia, to a compulsory holiday, as he did with the ministers of the National Liberation Front and the Rally For National Democracy Rally who are candidates for May 4 Legislative Elections.
Same sources added that the presidency did not include his name in the statement that announced the referral of government minister to the holiday, because Ouyahia is not directly nominated at the head of any list of his party in provinces.
Temporary decision to strip Ouyahia of his post as Director of Presidency Office to enable him to activate the electoral campaign, is considered the first of its kind in the history of the heads of parties that occupied and occupy senior positions in the state, and the date of elections in Algeria noticed the supervision of the General Secretary of RND party, Ahmed Ouyahia, when he was Prime Minister in the government, to organize the 2012 elections, and the former General Secretary of FLN, Abdelaziz Belkhadem supervised the 2007 elections in his capacity as PM, and the former PM Ali Benflis was not stripped of his post in 2002, and led the campaign for his party with the title of Prime Minister.
It seems that the winds of the presidency which hit Ouyahia came without his desire, as he already told the media that he will only activate the legislative campaign for the benefit of his party on the weekend only, before the new facts are imposed on him and before being “swept away” by the campaign from his office at Al-Mouradah Palace to the provinces, to activate the legislative campaign on a daily basis, without the post of the Director of the Presidency Office.
Bouteflika’s temporary decision to freeze Ouyahia’s post closed a section of the opposition’s doors to question the credibility of the elections, since the presidency has made the distance this time unified among all the heads of the political and administrative parties, even if Ouyahia retains his presidential security, because he was a former PM, including the car of service, but the new procedure, which is kept a secret by the man and his surroundings, but this deprives him of the “privileges” that are provided by the post, despite lifting the embarrassment that the administration found itself in the face because of the retention of some of the heads of parties to their official folds.
Instructions of the Interior Minister, Noureddine Badoui, and the Justice Minister, Tayeb Louh, concerning the framing of the electoral process, which prohibits the use of state means to activate the campaign, and the need for impartiality of the administration, were strengthened by the presidential measures by referring the politicians on vacation, and all those who are directly involved with the legislative elections, who hold senior positions in the state, despite the involvement of the government under the leadership of its Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, with all its weight in the campaign, as his agenda carries successive visits to the provinces, and the obsession of participation rate seems to impose its logic on everyone.
Will the governors of the republic and the local officials abide by the instructions of the interior and justice ministries, and adopt the principle of equal opportunities between all party leaders and their representatives, and forget during the campaign period that Ouyahia is the director of the presidential office, and Ould Abbas was a minister? Will Amara Ben Younes and Amar Ghoul be equal with Mohsen Belabbas and Abdelmalek Bouchafa in the administration’s handling?