Opposition political parties unable to decipher Bouteflika’s decisions

Opposition parties in Algeria have belittled the importance of Wednesday’s cabinet reshuffle undertaken by President Abdellaziz Bouteflika arguing that this “cosmetic change” won’t have any positive impact on the daily concerns of the Algerian citizens.

Asked by Echorouk to expound President Bouteflika’s move, these parties have failed to bring any clear-cut explanations saying that the national political landscape is still gripped by murkiness and fuzziness, as they put it.

According to the leader of the Algerian National Front, Moussa Touati, the cabinet reshuffle was patently meant to absorb the growing popular discontent on the boiling social front and to ward off by the same token any social upheaval and turmoil.

For his part, the leader of the new Algeria Front, Djamel Ben Abdeslam wondered whether this government shake-up was the outcome of a clan struggle within the governing apparatus or if it was actually designed to beef up President Bouteflika’s close allies in expectation of the 2014 Presidential elections in which Bouteflika is not likely to run on account of his illness.

The Secretary General of the National Reform Movement, Djahid Younsi, affirmed that this reshuffle was useless and didn’t differ from the previous one as its ostensible aim is to strive to safeguard the vested interests of certain big-wigs of the regime and those of their inner circle.

For his part, the leader of the movement for a society of peace (MSP), Abdellaziz Mokri, noted that this cabinet reshuffle was to all intents and purposes “meaningless”, according to his own comment.

Abderrazak Mokri argued that the important thing was the promotion of genuine political reforms and good governance with the aim of living up to the legitimate aspirations of the Algerian people through the organization of free, fair and transparent Presidential polls in April 2014.