Communal code revamping at the centre of inter-ministerial meeting

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia yesterday chaired in Algiers an inter-ministerial meeting essentially devoted to the long-awaited final revision of the communal code which is now coming out of the dark after endless years of procrastination and shilly-shallying on the part of the public authorities.  

• Reliable sources told “Echorouk” that the participants in  the meeting had put the final touches to the text of this communal code, which will be examined shortly by the council of government before being sent to parliament for a free-wheeling debate and subsequent endorsement during the course of the current autumn parliamentary session.
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• The new code provides for salutary changes notably in the election of mayors, in the prerogatives of local assemblies and in the running and management of the local community’s affairs.
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• According to the new code, the mayor should imperatively reside in the municipality he is in charge of.
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• The mayor could, in case of serious managerial drifts, be suspended by the Governor or Wali.
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• The text also provides for the creation of a municipal police under the authority of the mayor.
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• The secretary general of the Communal Popular Assembly (APC) will henceforth be nominated by presidential decree.
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• Under the newly – devised communal code, the municipalities will be in a position to garner more financial spin-offs in order to be able to implement various pending development projects for the benefit of the local community in the best conditions.
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