President’s absence affects Algeria constitution amendment

President of the Algerian human rights body Farouk Ksentini Sunday said Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika can not assign a French research department for Algeria’s constitution.

The human rights body suggested to the political consultations commission chaired by Abdelkader Bensaleh the creation of the Vice-president position.  

“I don’t have any information about the constitutional amendment commission which was appointed by the president. His health trouble was surprising to everyone but he insisted on continuing the formulation process,” said Ksentini.

“Things can not stop because of the president’s absence,” he added.

Ksentini believes that Algeria experiences a mystery phase following Bouteflika’s absence due to the Algerian system nature.

Most of powers in the Algerian system are under the president’s control. “The situation is like a dark night. Because of that, no one can predict the constitutional amendment future.”  

President of the Algerian League of Human Rights Defence Boudjemaa Ghachir said the commission is working on the constitutional amendment text, in response of reports about the possibility of freezing the amendment.

“The commission is supposed to continue its work because it is in charge of the country’s constitution amendment and not the president’s,” he said.

“This project comes as part of political reform projects announced by the president, two years ago. It’s time to implement them,” he added.

He believes the constitutional amendment project depends on Bouteflika’s return because “he is the only person who can amend the constitution.”

“Even if the commission completes its work, its effort can not be officialized because the president is the only person who approves the new text,” he said.