Algerian Parties Want to Ensure Integrity of Constitutional Referendum

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Reuters file photo
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Reuters file photo
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Algerian Parties Want to Ensure Integrity of Constitutional Referendum

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Reuters file photo
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Reuters file photo

Algerian parties have demanded guarantees to ensure the integrity of the referendum on the revised constitution which, according to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s office, will be held on November 1.

After "consultations with the parties concerned, it was decided to set the date of 1 November 2020 for the referendum on the draft revision of the Constitution", the presidency said on Monday evening.

The amendment angered a number of parties that criticized the president for holding wide powers, and the presidency responded by affirming that the society is not prepared for a change in governance.

The Islamist Bina Movement said the referendum on the constitution to be free is an opportunity to perpetuate the beginning of the true democratic transition.

The head of the movement, Abdelkader Bengrina, issued a statement Tuesday saying the new constitution could restore people's confidence in institutions and help overcome the country’s multiple crises.

Bengrina indicated that this will be a real breakthrough for establishing state institutions that the Algerians want, through reinforcing the elements of the nation’s identity, as well as enhancing national unity and strengthening the social entity.

Bengrina, who ran for the presidency at the end of last year, indicated that the preliminary draft amendment to the constitution is expected to be based on proposals submitted by the political parties, associations, civil society organizations and national figures.

He indicated that it should also meet the aspirations of the Algerian people to establish constitutional rules, freedom, democracy, social justice and development.

Meanwhile, president of the Movement of Society for Peace Abderrazak Makri said in a party meeting that he wished the presidency held a dialogue between social components about the draft before submitting it for a referendum.

He indicated that this would ensure a consensual constitution based on the principle of maintaining identity elements represented in religion, language, freedoms and democracy.

The new constitution would give the prime minister and parliament more powers to govern the country of 45 million people, a draft released earlier this year showed.

The draft also creates a new position for the vice president, and replaces the “first minister” with a prime minister appointed by the president, and not named by a parliamentary majority. It excluded the Minister of Justice and the President of the Supreme Court from the formation of the Supreme Judicial Council.

It also included the prohibition of more than two consecutive or separate presidential terms, and limited the parliamentary mandate to only two terms.

The President pledged to dissolve the parliament as well as municipal and state councils after the referendum.

The document constitutionally establishes the popular movement that broke out on February 22 last year and led to president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation.



US Military Shows Reporters Pier Project in Gaza as It Takes Another Stab at Aid Delivery 

An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Military Shows Reporters Pier Project in Gaza as It Takes Another Stab at Aid Delivery 

An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)

With US soldiers within shouting distance of Gaza's bombed-out coast, the American military is taking another stab at delivering aid to hungry Palestinians by sea.

After several fits and starts, a $230 million pier is up and running again. The US military invited reporters for a tour of it on Tuesday, marking the first time international media has witnessed its operations firsthand.

International journalists have not been allowed to enter Gaza independently since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.

The project, which first launched in mid-May, resumed operations last week after a recent pause due to rough seas.

As journalists looked on Tuesday, US soldiers with machine guns directed the pier's operations. US vessels carrying trucks loaded with humanitarian aid docked at the pier.

Israeli and Cypriot drivers drove the trucks off the vessels and headed down the 400-meter (437-yard) causeway to the beach, where they unloaded pallets of aid.

The trucks then returned to the vessels to be ferried to large cargo ships and reloaded. The cargo ships travel across the Mediterranean Sea from Cyprus.

Col. Samuel Miller, the commander of a joint task force, US Army 7th Transportation Brigade, said the vessels can ferry aid to the pier at least five times a day.

“Our mission out here is to receive those humanitarian assistance pallets offshore from a larger vessel onto that floating pier,” he said, shouting over waves crashing against the pier. “Over time, we are learning organization and we've gotten better.”

The floating pier was anchored back on Gaza’s shoreline on June 19 after heavy seas and high winds led the military to disconnect it from the beach. In May, similar conditions forced a two-week pause in operations after the pier broke apart and four US Army vessels ran aground, injuring three service members, one critically.

Since coming back online, the pier has been delivering hundreds of pallets of aid a day to the shore, Miller said.

From the pier, Associated Press journalists could see aid piling up against a backdrop of near-total destruction. Israeli army vehicles slowly moved between blown-out buildings along the coast. Tents stood on beaches in the distance.

The US military said about 6,200 metric tons (6,800 tons) of aid have so far been delivered from the project to Gaza’s shore.

While aid from the pier is reaching the beach, it's still difficult to get it to Palestinians in Gaza. The UN World Food Program has suspended aid delivery from the pier due to security concerns after the Israeli military appeared to use the area in a June 8 hostage rescue. Lawlessness around the pier, with hungry Palestinians seizing aid off trucks headed to delivery zones, also is a major concern.

The US launched the project to bring relief to Gaza, where Israel’s military offensive against Hamas has displaced over 80% of the territory’s 2.3 million people and unleashed a humanitarian disaster. International officials say hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine.

UN and other international aid officials have voiced skepticism over the pier, saying its effectiveness is limited and it is no substitute for Israeli-controlled land crossings into the territory.

UN officials told the AP on Tuesday that they are considering suspending all aid operations across Gaza unless steps are taken to better protect humanitarian workers. That would plunge Gaza into an even deeper humanitarian catastrophe.

Palestinians in Gaza are heavily reliant on UN aid, which has only trickled into the territory since Israel's incursion in early May into Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, shut down a major land crossing and slowed deliveries from another major crossing.

Still, the soldiers operating the pier Tuesday were hopeful.

“I talk to my sailors on a daily basis,” said US Navy Capt. Joel Stewart. “They understand that our aid is necessary for the people of Gaza that are suffering under the conditions of war.”