The Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, announced Thursday, February 18, in a speech to the Nation, the dissolution of Parliament. The head of state will proceed with a cabinet reshuffle within 48 hours. He called for early elections before informing that he is granting the pardon to Hirak detainees, a gesture of appeasement in the direction of this popular protest movement that celebrates its two-year anniversary on February 22.
The Head of State, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, delivered, Thursday, February 18, 2021, a message to the Nation coinciding with the national day of homage to the “martyrs” of the War of Independence (1954-1962). The Algerian President announced that he had dissolved Parliament and promised a cabinet reshuffle within 48 hours. This overhaul will involve sectors that are running deficits in their management, which are felt by citizens and us,’ he said.
He subsequently called for early elections, saying he wished to open his doors to youth.“Young people must have political weight,” he said, announcing the upcoming establishment of a Supreme Youth Council and the National Observatory of Civil Society. Consequently, the parliamentary elections, which were planned for 2022, will finally take place by June, at the latest in September. The vote will take place on the basis of a new electoral law that will be promulgated by order since Parliament has been dissolved.
The Algerian head of state also announced that he had granted the pardon to several detainees of the Hirak movement. “The “blessed Hirak” saved Algeria. I decided to grant the presidential pardon to some thirty people for whom a court decision had been rendered, as well as to others for whom no verdict had been rendered. Between 55 and 60 people will join their families from tonight (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday),” he said.However, the Presidency said in a tweet that the pardon only concerned “perpetrators of crimes related to information and communication technologies”, without disclosing names.
Note that this announcement comes on the eve of the second anniversary of the unprecedented popular uprising of February 22, 2019. The “Hirak” protest movement forced President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to give up a fifth presidential term and leave power.Calls to demonstrate, throughout Algeria, for Monday, February 22, circulate on social networks.
