RND Secretary General Ouyahia throws in the towel

Ahmed Ouyahia Thursday resigned as Secretary General of RND, saying his decision is meant to protect the party unity and it had nothing to do with personal accounts.

Ouyahia surprised his opponents who had started collecting signatures to topple him in the next session of the national assembly.

“I am sorry to inform you that I resign as Secretary General of the party as from January 15th,” he said.

“I chose the date of January 15th in order to open door to well-intentioned people to consult each other and appoint interim Secretary General,” he added.

The RND’s former leader believes that his decision would prevent division inside the party if conflict led to clashes in the next session of the national assembly.

According to Ouyahia, the party crisis should be resolved and appropriate conditions should be available to restore stability at the RND.

He said the statute, rules and regulations give him the prerogative of chairing the national assembly’s session and the congress preparation commission. “Yet, the implementation of those procedures will not lead to a useful session and will not help to overcome the crisis. My duty is to contribute in providing appropriate conditions in order to restore stability.”

He denied that would have made this decision because he lost control over the majority of the national assembly. “My message is not meant to respond to criticism but it is meant to warn against deviation which would have a negative impact on the party.”

He also said he resigned because dissidence movement in the RND showed attitudes out of the party rules and regulations. According to him, a number of collected signatures were made by non members and there are attempts to set up local offices in parallel of official structures.