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.



Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized plans announced by the military on Sunday to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave.

The military had announced the daily pauses from 0500 GMT until 1600 GMT in the area from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.

"When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him," an Israeli official said.

The military clarified that normal operations would continue in Rafah, the main focus of its operation in southern Gaza, where eight soldiers were killed on Saturday.

The reaction from Netanyahu underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where international organizations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads one of the nationalist religious parties in Netanyahu's ruling coalition, denounced the idea of a tactical pause, saying whoever decided it was a "fool" who should lose their job.

DIVISIONS BETWEEN COALITION, ARMY

The spat was the latest in a series of clashes between members of the coalition and the military over the conduct of the war, now in its ninth month.

It came a week after centrist former general Benny Gantz quit the government, accusing Netanyahu of having no effective strategy in Gaza.

The divisions were laid bare last week in a parliamentary vote on a law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant voting against it in defiance of party orders, saying it was insufficient for the needs of the military.

Religious parties in the coalition have strongly opposed conscription for the ultra-Orthodox, drawing widespread anger from many Israelis, which has deepened as the war has gone on.

Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, the head of the military, said on Sunday there was a "definite need" to recruit more soldiers from the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community.

RESERVISTS UNDER STRAIN

Despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant, more than eight months since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel triggered a ground assault on the enclave by Israeli forces.

Since the attack, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners in Israeli communities, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, and destroyed much of Gaza.

Although opinion polls suggest most Israelis support the government's aim of destroying Hamas, there have been widespread protests attacking the government for not doing more to bring home around 120 hostages who are still in Gaza after being taken hostage on Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said seven Palestinians were killed in two air strikes on two houses in Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

As fighting in Gaza has continued, a lower level conflict across the Israel-Lebanon border is now threatening to spiral into a wider war as near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia have escalated.

In a further sign that fighting in Gaza could drag on, Netanyahu's government said on Sunday it was extending until Aug. 15 the period it would fund hotels and guest houses for residents evacuated from southern Israeli border towns.