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Algerian President in Discussions to Form New Govt after Polls

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune speaks outside a polling station during the country's parliamentary election, Bouchaoui, Algeria, June 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune speaks outside a polling station during the country's parliamentary election, Bouchaoui, Algeria, June 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
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Algerian President in Discussions to Form New Govt after Polls

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune speaks outside a polling station during the country's parliamentary election, Bouchaoui, Algeria, June 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune speaks outside a polling station during the country's parliamentary election, Bouchaoui, Algeria, June 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune Saturday commenced consultations to form a new government following a parliamentary election marked by low turnout, a statement from his office said.

Algeria's incumbent National Liberation Front (FLN) won the most seats in the June 12 vote that saw record levels of abstention, with voter turnout at just 23%.

Prime Minister Abdelaziz Jarad Thursday presented his government's resignation to Tebboune, who asked him to continue handling current affairs.

"In the context of broad political consultations to form a government, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received (on Saturday) the secretary-general of the FLN, Abou El Fadhl Baadji, and members of the political bureau," a presidency statement said, according to AFP.

"The president also received a delegation representing independents, led by Abdelwahab Ait Menguelet," the mayor of Tizi Ouzou, it added.

Ait Menguelet headed an independent list in an electorate where the participation rate was less than 1%.

Consultations are scheduled to continue until Wednesday.

The record abstention rate has been seen as a sign of Algerians' disillusionment with and defiance of a political class deemed to have lost much of its credibility.

Algeria's long-running Hirak pro-democracy protest movement boycotted the polls.

The ruling FLN, which emerged from Algeria's long struggle for independence from France in 1962 and was the country's sole party until the first multiparty elections in 1990, secured 98 of the parliament's 407 seats, beating a loose alliance of independents with 84 seats.

The Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), a moderate Islamic party, was third with 65 seats, while the FLN's traditional ally, the Democratic National Rally (RND), claimed 58 seats.

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UN General Assembly Asks Court to Say What Israel Needs to Provide in Gaza

The UN General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council due to political concerns. JOHN ANGELILLO / POOL/AFP/File
The UN General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council due to political concerns. JOHN ANGELILLO / POOL/AFP/File
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UN General Assembly Asks Court to Say What Israel Needs to Provide in Gaza

The UN General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council due to political concerns. JOHN ANGELILLO / POOL/AFP/File
The UN General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council due to political concerns. JOHN ANGELILLO / POOL/AFP/File

The UN General Assembly approved a resolution Thursday asking the UN’s highest court to state what Israel’s obligations are in Gaza and the West Bank to provide humanitarian assistance essential for the survival of Palestinian civilians.
The vote on the Norwegian-sponsored resolution seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice was 137-12, with 22 abstentions. The United States, Israel's closest ally, voted against the resolution.
Resolutions in the 193-member General Assembly are not legally binding, though they do reflect world opinion, The Associated Press said.
It follows the ICJ’s condemnation of Israel’ s rule over lands it captured 57 years ago. In a nonbinding opinion in July, the court said Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on Israel to end its occupation and halt settlement construction immediately.
Thursday's resolution also follows Israeli laws passed in late October, which take effect in 90 days, that effectively ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, from operating in the Palestinian territories.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed that no other UN agency can take on UNRWA's role, and a UN spokesman reiterated Thursday that under international law, as the occupying power, Israel would be responsible for fulfilling the basic needs of Palestinians if UNRWA is banned.
Norway’s deputy foreign minister, Andreas Kravik, told reporters that the international community has a responsibility to react to tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza and virtually the entire population experiencing acute hunger, and some near famine.
He said many countries, the UN and its agencies, and aid organizations are ready to step up their humanitarian efforts but the problem is “there’s a lack of access.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the assembly before the vote that its members were debating “the same recycled nonsense, where all that matters is attacking Israel and challenge its right to protect its citizens.”
“This time the Palestinians are using a new tool in this diplomatic circus: the International Court of Justice,” he said.
The resolution demands that Israel comply with all its legal obligations under international law, including by the UN's top court.
It expresses concern about the Israeli legislation on UNRWA and Israeli measures to impede assistance to the Palestinians.
The resolution seeks the ICJ’s guidance on additional questions about its July ruling, including what Israel's obligations are “to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”