Algeria’s Bouteflika announces new government | Nairalaw

* Caretaker government headed by newly appointed PM
Noureddine Bedoui will be tasked with overseeing transition
process.

Algeria’s presidency has announced the formation of a new
caretaker government, with the country’s army chief keeping his
post as deputy defence minister despite his calls for the removal
of embattled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

State TV reported on Sunday that Sabri Boukadoum had been
appointed foreign minister, replacing Ramtane Lamamra who had taken
up the post earlier this month.

Other notable changes included Central Bank Governor Mohamed
Loukal and Mohamed Arkab being named finance and energy
ministers.

The cabinet is led by Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, who
assumed his duties on March 11 amid widespread protests calling for
the departure of Bouteflika and the ruling elite.

The weeks-long demonstrations erupted late on February after the
82-year-old president announced a plan to seek a fifth term in
elections scheduled for April.

Amid mounting public anger, Bouteflika later gave in to
protesters’ demands and abandoned his re-election bid – but also
delayed the vote indefinitely and announced he would only step down
once a new constitution had been passed and a successor had been
elected.

Opposition leaders and protesters denounced the move as an
attempt by the ailing leader to extend his fourth term in office,
set to expire on April 28.

The victim of a debilitating stroke in 2013, Bouteflika has in
recent weeks seen some of his closest allies, including ruling
party executive and trade union leaders, abandon him.

Earlier this week, army chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid
Salah called for the application of a provision in the Algerian
constitution that could remove the president on account of his
failing health.

In a televised address on Tuesday, Salah, the army chief, said
he considered the people’s demands to be valid and that the
presidency should be vacated.

“We must adopt a solution that helps us out of this crisis … a
solution that respects and adheres to the constitution so that it’s
a suitable one for all sides,” Salah, who is also the deputy
defence minister, said in a televised address on Tuesday.

Addressing an Arab League summit in Tunis on Sunday, UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed efforts towards a
peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria.