Ould Abbas: “The Next President Of The Republic Will Hail From The FLN Party”

The Secretary-General of the National Liberation Front Party (FLN) , Mr. Djamel Ould Abbas, said he was waiting for the President’s reaction regarding the recent statements made by Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel about Morocco, while considering the latter as free, given his position as the prime official in charge of Algerian diplomacy as well as regarding the case of former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Mr. Djamel Ould Abbas told the press, on Wednesday, on the sidelines of a meeting in Algiers of the FLN’s Political Bureau, concerning the statement of the Prime Minister and Secretary General of the National Democratic Rally (RND) Ahmed Ouyahia who spoke of the “injustice” meted out to Chakib Khelil, the former energy minister, saying that “I have full confidence in the latter”, adding, “Ouyahia is free in his speech … He referred to the case of Chakib Khelil in his capacity as leader of his RND party and not as a Prime Minister.”

On his position concerning the recent biting statement made by the head of the national enterprises’ forum (FCE), Mr. Ali Haddad, who branded former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune as a “predator”, Mr. Ould Abbas affirmed that “Ali Haddad is a friend before being an FLN party militant,  together with his militant family, while describing  Mr. Tebboune as a bona-fide FLN party leader who has caused no problem and ought to be spared accusations”. 

He declared to this effect: “The President of the Republic is the one who wrapped up the duties of Tebboune and he is capable of appointing him to another position at any time.”

“We are the first-ranking party in the country and we agreed to meeting with Prime Minster Ahmed Ouyahia as part of  regular government consultations,” he said, stressing that the recent encounter with Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia in the framework of the presidential party alliance was a normal procedure to coordinate common positions but Mr Ould Abbas stated bluntly: “We are the majority party, and the President of the Republic in 2019 will hail from the FLN party and we will not accept otherwise”.

Regarding the upcoming local polls, Mr. Ould Abbas underscored that his party is quite ready to enter the electoral race and will achieve “surprising election returns”, as he put it. 

He however pointed out that his party militants had faced some difficulties at the municipal level. He also confirmed that the FLN party will be vying in the November 23rd local elections in 1,535 municipalities across the country in addition to filing candidates for the large majority of provincial assemblies’ seats.