President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has won a power struggle with Algeria's ruling party, paving the way for an amnesty offer to rebels that could end 13 years of civil strife and speed liberalization of the oil-rich economy. Analysts said the National Liberation Front (FLN)'s decision, announced on Monday, to end almost two years of friction and rally behind Bouteflika, gives him a free hand to press ahead with his painful but wide-ranging reform plans. "Bouteflika is now assured of complete fidelity from the former single party ruler (FLN)," the influential newspaper Le Quotidien d'Oran said in an editorial yesterdayAnalysts said that for the first time Algeria has a democratically elected president who controls both the ruling party and the once-mighty military, enabling him to push ahead with political and economic reforms. "A market economy is the most efficient system that will guarantee economic growth and create jobs," Hassan Bahloul, FLN member and university professor, told Reuters. Privatizing the banking sector and opening up the key oil and gas industry are high priorities, analysts said. But another FLN member, who asked to remain anonymous, was unhappy with the party's decision. "The FLN is no longer a party but just a committee to support Bouteflika. I have no doubt this is a good day for Bouteflika but a bad day for democracy," he said.