A political tug of war between Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his former head of government Ali Benflis intensified yesterday with a court order freezing the activities and funds of the National Liberation Front (FLN), the divided ruling party. The order, in response to a complaint lodged by the partyâs pro-Bouteflika âreform faction,â also declared an FLN party congress held in March ânull and voidâ because it failed to respect the party statutes, the state news agency APS reported. The party congress had re-elected Benflis secretary-general of the FLN, the North African countryâs former sole ruling party, and broadened his powers while dropping its backing of Bouteflika, whom the party had propelled to power in April 1999. Benflis, whom Bouteflika fired as head of government in May, has announced his candidacy in an April presidential election, while the president has not yet said whether he will vie for a second term. The reform faction had won a legal injunction against an extraordinary congress of the FLN, which went ahead regardless on Oct. 3, confirming Benflisâ candidacy. The freeze implies that Benflis, a former human rights lawyer, will be unable to run as the FLNâs candidate in April, forcing him to revamp his electoral strategy, observers here said. Bouteflikaâs former right-hand man reacted immediately to the move, telling AFP it âshows once again that the president ... will stop at nothing to slake his unquenchable thirst for power.â
| Pretty typical, huh? I think it has something to do with the way Algeria came into being, myself. What do you think, JFM? |
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