Algeria's prime minister resigns

Following the announcement by the Constitutional Council in Algeria of the final results of the legislative elections of 12 June, which were marked by a record abstention rate of over 75%, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad resigned on Thursday, two weeks after the parliamentary elections. 

In office since 28 December 2019, Abdelaziz Djerad will remain head of government to manage current affairs. "I accept the resignation, but continue to manage current affairs until the appointment of a new government," President Tebboune said, quoted by the official APS news agency. The head of state thanked his prime minister for having led the government "under difficult conditions", notably because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the information had been evoked for several weeks, the announcement of the final results of the legislative elections by the Constitutional Council confirms the resignation of the current Prime Minister. According to Algerian national television, Djerad is due to officially present his resignation to the head of state on Friday at 11:30 a.m. This procedure is in accordance with Article 113 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the prime minister or the head of government may, as the case may be, present his resignation to the president of the Republic.

In the same vein, it should be noted that the constitution stipulates in Article 103 that 'the government is headed by a prime minister when legislative elections result in a presidential majority' and by 'a head of government when legislative elections result in a parliamentary majority'.

Algeria's president, who many continue to link to the old National Liberation Front leadership, and the army leaders who back him had faith in parliamentary elections to end more than two years of protests by the Hirak citizens' protest movement, which continues to flood the streets demanding the political reforms demanded by a citizenry facing a severe economic crisis, marked by falling energy prices and the corruption of a political class ensconced in power.  

The emerging assembly is likely to result in a coalition bringing together the two traditional parties (FLN and the Rassemblement national démocratique RND), independents, Islamo-conservatives and small formations close to the government. As soon as they were elected, most of the independent deputies pledged their allegiance to President Tebboune. As for the Prime Minister, the Head of State could either reappoint Abdelaziz Djerad, or designate a representative of the parliamentary majority or a personality not affiliated to a political party.

The Constitutional Council, which examined 348 appeals, declared 48 appeals admissible on the merits and rejected 300 "for lack of or insufficient evidence or unfounded means" resulting in the correction of the distribution of seats in a number of constituencies. Article 211 of the Electoral Law states that "the final results of the legislative elections are arrested and proclaimed by the Constitutional Court (now the Constitutional Council), at the latest ten days from the date of receipt of the provisional results adopted by the ANIE (Independent National Electoral Authority).

According to the final results, the changes also affected the distribution of seats in the new National People's Assembly (NPA), where the National Liberation Front (FLN), which has controlled the Algerian lower house since Algeria's independence in 1962, lost seven seats. The former single party, which won the legislative elections again, finally won 98 of the 407 seats after the selection and verifications carried out by the Constitutional Council instead of the 105 - announced by the ANIE. While the Independents gained six more seats, from 78 to 84, the third political force in the new NPA is the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), the main Islamist party, with 65 seats, with one additional MP, according to Efe. Even the National Democratic Rally (RND) gained an additional seat (58 seats) while the Al Binaa Movement (National Construction) lost one seat (39 instead of 40). For the ruling el Mustakbal (Future) Front, which won 48 seats, nothing has changed between the provisional and final results.

This political landscape represented a major challenge for the now former prime minister, as his decision-making capacity was increasingly reduced in the face of a country that continues to demand a civilian rather than a military system. Abdelmadjid Tebboune is due to start consultations on Saturday with the leaders of political parties and representatives of independents, with a view to forming a new government, a presidential statement said. The next head of government will have to implement the roadmap of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, starting with local elections by the end of the year. The government is determined to regain control, after two and a half years of political instability, by ignoring the demands of the street: rule of law, democratic transition, popular sovereignty, independent justice.

This is the third citizens' referendum to take place in Algeria since the departure from power of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019, who led the country for 20 years under pressure from street protests and the military leadership that had kept him in power. 24 million Algerians were called to the polls in a legislative election marked by a record abstention rate, numbers that cast a shadow over the government's strategy, which had presented the referendum as the "end of Hirak" and the birth of "the new Algeria". 

The resignation of the Algerian prime minister paves the way for President Abedelmadjid Tebboune to form a new government. The next steps will be the inauguration of the new National People's Assembly (NPA) at the end of the month, followed by the appointment of a prime minister and the formation of a new government that will have to take into account the new political map.