Will the Government Expand Discussion on the New Political Parties’ Draft?

The new draft political parties’ law is on the table of the Government’s General Secretariat, where it is awaiting discussion during the current parliamentary session, as the Ministry of the Interior and Local Communities is receiving proposals from parties that have expressed reservations about some of the contents of the new legislative text and have demanded the expansion of discussion in the coming days.

Although the authorities emphasized the importance of the new legal text that would rearrange the political parties in the country, given that the last amendment to this document dates back to 2012, the first draft prepared by the government, represented by the Ministry of Interior and Local Communities in coordination with the relevant ministerial sectors, did not please the political parties which demanded the re-expansion of consultations on it.

Party leaders had previously spoken about the possibility of the government resorting to opening new consultations on this document. Still, it did not specify the manner, the way and whether it would be through the parliament or through reconsidering the proposals of the political parties that still call for the need for a comprehensive draft that would meet all demands of the Algerian parties.

Echorouk has previously reviewed the new draft which included many amendments, especially those related to controlling the issue of political movement, which has long distorted political action in the country, as this phenomenon resulted in some elected officials abandoning their party affiliation within the framework of their election during their electoral term. This required, according to the drafters, an end to these practices through the new constitutional provisions that prevented every elected person exercising his/her mandate at the level of one of the two chambers of parliament from changing his/her political affiliation during the electoral term, under penalty of being removed from membership in parliament.

The draft also determined the ways and means of establishing political parties by approving new provisions related to the procedures associated with studying the application file for establishing a political party, as well as the file requesting its approval to fill the legal gaps recorded therein.

The same applies to the representation of the wilayas during the founding conference, as the draft amended the percentage of the wilayas’ representation in the founding conference.

The new project also came to enshrine what is known as democratic principles in the organization and functioning of the political party, as the Algerian legislator obligated political parties to adopt the rules and principles and election in assuming responsibilities and the principle of democratic deliberation in the organization and functioning of the political party and to emphasize at the same time that the party’s organs are elected for a maximum term of five years.

The draft to determine terms for party leaders received attention from political parties, whether those who rejected it or the party leaders who were called second-line leaders, who welcomed it to determine terms, which allowed the rotation in the leadership position.

Nevertheless, political parties believe that the new draft is important and pivotal in party political practice, as it will reset party work in the country and establish a new political phase that may lead to the rise of parties to the forefront of the political scene or the decline of other parties and perhaps their disappearance from the political life.