Thursday, February 17, 2011
Lamine Chikhi
Reuters

ALGIERS: One of the founders of the Algerian state has called on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to respond to the wave of unrest in the Arab world by replacing a system of rule he called undemocratic and out of date.

Abdel-Hamid Mehri, a former head of Algeria’s ruling FLN party, said in a letter addressed to Bouteflika that radical change was needed before Algeria marks the 50th anniversary of its independence from France next year.

The governing system is “no longer capable of addressing the big challenges facing the nation,” Mehri said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. “The voices calling for a peaceful change of this system are many. This change cannot be postponed any longer,” the letter added.

Mehri’s words carry weight because he was a leading figure in Algeria’s struggle against French colonial rule. Mehri, who is 84, is one of only two Algerians still alive who negotiated the Evian Treaty, which ended France’s 130-year colonial rule after a war of independence that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Under Algeria’s Constitution, political power is held by the president and Parliament, which are both elected. However most analysts say that the security forces have substantial influence over decision-making.

According to people familiar with the inner workings of the governing system, pressure is building from inside the system for the introduction of new blood and for less state control of the economy, which many people believe has been a failure.

“Mehri is offering Bouteflika a way to leave office with dignity and honor,” said Mohammad Lagab, a writer and lecturer at the University of Algiers.

In Wednesday’s letter Mehri said that Algeria had much in common with Egypt and Tunisia. “The ruling systems in Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria have a democratic facade but exclude, through different means, a large part of the citizens from participating in public life,” said Mehri who, like Bouteflika, fought against the French.

“The challenge is therefore to put in place a democratic system which will include the majority of the population in decision-making. The change cannot … be made through decisions made on high,” he wrote.
“Algeria is due to celebrate soon the fiftieth anniversary of its independence. I think the time we have left is sufficient to agree on a peaceful change.”