Algeria is a large country located in the North of Africa, bordered with six other countries, which are Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Tunisia as well as having a long coast on the Mediterranean Sea, Algeria also has a small border with the disputed Western Sahara territory, which I will tell a bit more on when we reach the Mauritania/Morocco posts. Algeria’s population is just over 41.30 million as of 2017. For currency the country uses the Algerian dinar, currently a weak currency, as of typing this up 1 dinar is equivalent to 0.0064 of a £ or 0.0084 of a US Dollar. Algeria’s capital city and largest city is Algiers, located on the coast, it is known for its architecture, such as whitewashed buildings of the Kasbah, Ottoman palaces and a ruined citadel among other points of interest.
Government Type
Algeria is a Constitutional Semi-Presidential Republic which means that the country has a constitution that makes up the framework of how the government works and its rules, it means that there is both a President acting as Head of State and a Prime Minister acting as Head of Government and a Republic is basically a form of democracy that most countries in the world have implemented, where the public is able to be more involved, such as through running for office and/or voting.
The set-up of government involves the President who represents the government abroad as well as having a number of special executive powers, the Prime Minister who runs government functions and meets with the cabinet which can make executive decisions and implement passed legislation, of which has been debated on and passed by the Bicameral Parliament which makes up the legislative government. The Presidential and Legislative positions are electable by the people, but Algeria’s democracy is described as being very “controlled” by people, such as the military, who want to keep certain figures and parties in power, such as the current President Bouteflika and the National Liberation Front party, which was originally a revolutionary group who fought for the country’s independence from France. There has often been widespread and violent/deadly unrest in the country due to this corruption.
The Executive Government
وهراني from Flickr and Wikimedia. License.
The executive government involves the President as Head of State, the Prime Minister as Head of Government and appointed Ministerial positions acting as the cabinet, called the Council of Ministers.
The President of Algeria as already stated is charged with representing the country’s interest in foreign affairs but also heads the Council of Ministers. The President is also Commander-in-Chief of the countries armed forces. Terms last 5 years and candidates were originally limited to two terms (10 years) in office but this has since been amended in the constitution to enable a person to have unlimited terms, which has enabled the current President Bouteflika to remain in power since 1999 and has announced he will run “one more time” in the 2019 elections, with many skeptical of it being the last time (NOTE: After writing this as of 11th March Bouteflika has announced he will now not run in this year’s presidential election, it comes after protests against him running again in the country, this means Algeria will finally be getting a new president after about 20 years). (UPDATE AGAIN: As of 18th March Bouteflika has now postponed elections in the country until “a new constitution is put in place” in what many are calling another attempt to cling to power. This move could see him remain in power for up to another 5 years) The amendment of the constitution to enable unlimited terms for the President has been viewed as corrupt by opposition parties and international organizations such as the UN and by other countries.
The Prime Minister leads legislative government and also many executive government functions, consults with the Council of Ministers on legislation implementation and other matters/duties, all of the ministers are appointed by the President based on the Prime Minister’s advice, the Prime Minister is also appointed by the President after legislative elections, the current Prime Minister has been appointed from the 2nd largest party, the largest current party, the FLN, being the President’s own party. This is often different from other countries that have a Semi-Presidential system where the President is often Independent and appoints a Prime Minister from the largest party, it is something else in Algeria’s government that is seen as corrupted.
The Legislative Government
The Legislative government is made up of a Bicameral Parliament, which means there are both an upper and lower House that debates on and passes legislation. Only the lower House, called the People’s National Assembly, is elected by the people in legislative elections that happen every 5 years, the upper Houses 144 members, of the Council of the Nation, are appointed/elected, 96 are elected by communal councils and the other 48 members are appointed by the President for 6-year terms. The Lower House currently has 462 members, but this can fluctuate based on constituency population changes.
Basically, the houses debate and pass on legislation, the lower house passes any legislation they move ahead to the upper house who then debates on it and also passes it up on to the executive government where it will be considered for implementation and so on. The Legislative government is viewed as very weak against the executive government, although the parliament does have the duty to confirm the policies of the appointed Prime Minister, if they vote against it then new elections are called, apart from that one check, they do not have much else to contend against executive government over-reach, especially that of the President, whose party often controls the houses anyway.
The Electoral Process
Algeria has two elections, Presidential elections every 5 years and Legislative elections, also every 5 years, but neither at the same time. Presidential elections obviously elect the president and is done through popular vote, the current President Bouteflika often had very little competition, the military and “others” who are said to control things behind the scenes, simply known as “the power” have been accused of political intimidation of opponents against their own chosen candidates and the absence of a Presidential term limit, recently amended in the country’s constitution is seen as further corruption.
Political parties are allowed in the country and there are currently over 40 parties that exist, but again any that threaten to topple the ruling FLN party has been met with political intimidation and threats from the military and others, even going as far as the military performing coups. A number of other parties normally boycott elections due to corruption and also apparent vote rigging and intimidation.
In Legislative elections, the Lower House, the People’s National Assembly members, are elected from multi-seat constituencies by direct popular vote, the system is proportional representation and so the percentage of vote each group gets is reflected in the percentage each group makes up in the lower house, the Prime Minister is then appointed by the President, often from the best performing party (not including the FLN, at least lately). At least 8 of the lower house’s seats must have an Algerian living abroad elected to its position. Algerian citizens must be at least 18 years old to vote, voting is not compulsory.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you learned something from this and found it interesting! Next up will be a tiny weeny territory known as Andorra… ruled by a president and a bishop?! From two different countries??!! Find out more next time.
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