Will President Tebboune Respond To The “National Unity Government” Demand?

The specifications of the government that will emerge from the legislative elections that took place last Saturday are clear, and it is a “National Unity Government” or a “Broad Political Government”, a demand that was made by many leaders of the representative parties in the lower house of Parliament.

This demand was raised by most of the leaders of the political parties that have seats in the new National People’s Assembly, before and after the legislative elections, which means that the idea was sufficiently fermented by its owners, and it remained only to deal with it positively by President Tebboune in his position as the final decision-maker.

What is remarkable about this demand is that there are parties affiliated with the authority (formerly loyalists) and those affiliated with the opposition, which means that there is a broad political consensus to build comfortably the government during the next stage.

The General-Secretary of the National Liberation Front, Abu El Fadl Baadji, is at the forefront of those who demand the adoption of this political option, and that was during the election campaign for the last legislative elections. He expected the production of a parliament composed of several political blocs that would allow “the formation of a government that carries a promising political, economic and social program that can provide a qualitative addition to the country.

The Movement for Society for Peace, in turn, did not fail to support this trend. It asserted, in the words of its leader, Abderrazak Makri, while he was commenting on the results of the legislative elections, the need to “form a broad political bloc. We want a national unity government that works for development”.

The head of the El-Bina (National Building) Movement, Abdelkader Bengrina, also spoke about the broad government when he said that his movement “with the formation of a political commando under the auspices and leadership of President Tebboune, to get the country out of its political and economic crisis”, and here he means by saying commandos; “an expanded government formed by the political class, whether those who participated in the elections or those who boycotted them”.

The other party that raised the banner of the broad government is the Rally for National Democracy (RND), according to its General-Secretary, Tayeb Zitouni, who advocated for a return to work in the logic of political consensus, to create an expanded political base capable of providing political cover and support for the program that will be implemented during the next five years.

“We in the Rally for National Democracy (RND) believe in the necessity of uniting in a national pole, a strong pole with our Islamist partners and with the democrats, and even with the boycotters of legislation, because among them there are many who love the good of the country, allowing for a real revolution in the economy”, Zitouni said.

Although the position of the Future Front party (El Moustakbal) was not clear enough, like the rest of the leaders of the parties represented in the lower chamber of Parliament, the statement of its president, Abdelaziz Belaid, was implicitly poured into this trend, when he said that “the next parliament (the statement was before the elections) will be the pillar of change, and it will produce the government that handles the major economic problems and crises that the country is experiencing, but this presupposes need concerted efforts of all parties”.

The parties that demand a “Broad Political Government” or a “National Unity Government” control the overwhelming majority of the lower house of parliament, with 307 seats out of a total of 407 seats, according to the preliminary results announced by the National Elections Authority, which makes their demand strong in the political terms, but the final decision remains in the hands of the President of the Republic.