Every Algerian president has a constitution .. so will it be a constitution that you choose for Algeria?

Abdel-Hakim Hadaqa - Algeria

Algeria's relationship with its constitutions has been troubled since independence, so it does not settle for it with any current president, and whenever the regime finds itself in a political or economic stalemate, it resorted to playing the constitution paper to find outlets for social venting, according to observers.

Followers historically record that every Algerian president has a constitution that he has tailored to his size since 1963, when Ahmed bin Ballah placed the first legal document in the country, but it only lasted two years, for Colonel Houari Boumediene to block it after the June 19, 1965 coup.

The Revolution Council became the actual legislator until the promulgation of the 1976 constitution, which enshrined the principles of the unified socialist boumedi system, before the power was besieged by the repercussions of the oil crisis and the events of October 1988, forcing it to open up democraticly through the constitution of President Shazly bin Jadid on February 23. February 1989.

And the winds of the pluralistic experiment took place in a way that the regime's ships did not desire. In the era of President Liamine Zeroual, again, they drafted an alternative constitution on November 28, 1996.

However, since his rise to power in the spring of 1999, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika did not hesitate to criticize the constitution, until he was ousted in three amendments between 2002, 2008 and 2016, which enabled him to acquire "royal powers" in a republican system, according to specialists.

Teboun Constitution

With the outbreak of the movement on February 22, many of the rules of the game between the people and the authority changed, and the new Algerian President, Abdel Majid Taboun, appointed the academician Ahmed Larraba to chair a 15-member expert committee to draft proposals for a constitutional review within sixty days.

He pledged to open broad consultations afterwards with actors in political life and civil society, before introducing the new draft of parliamentary approval and then the popular referendum, which constitutionally means that the amendments will be essential.

The presidential statement outlined seven axes of the constitutional amendment, most notably the promotion of citizens ’rights and freedoms, equality before the law, the consecration of public life morals and the fight against corruption, and the independence of the judiciary, not to mention the separation of powers and the promotion of parliamentary oversight.

The constitutional reform project is considered one of the most important electoral pledges to the President Tboun, but observers fear that the scenario of the Algerian constitutions, which, according to them, are woven over the mood of the president at every stage to extend the life of the regime, considering that the main problem was not in the texts, but rather in practically all of them This is not required by the authority of the Authority.

Therefore, the Algerians bet today is how a sustainable constitution can be drafted, and any legal mechanisms to fortify it in the future from seasonal changes.

Deep engineering

To answer this, Amer Rakhila, a former member of the Constitutional Council, said that the stability of the constitution is linked to the level of constitutionality of public life in society, that is, that the institutions be built in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

Since Algeria is heading towards what the president of the republic described as the founding of a new republic, this depends, according to Rakhila, on a deep review of the current constitution in all its chapters, and the shortening of the 218 constitutional articles, "because many of them are not applicable or are read by contradictory interpretations" .

In order for the constitution to be a basic mechanism for the stability of society, Rakhila adds in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, that there must be constitutional engineering that enshrines the principle of separation of powers, and defines the fundamental principles that govern society and the nature of the state, are they interfering or regulating?

Rakhila stressed on mapping the basic rights and freedoms of man and citizen, and ensuring that the constitutional founder retains his duties, by controlling the constitutional provisions, and leaving what is related to the regulation of the economy, education, and media and all aspects of life to the qualified legislator, to keep pace with and regulate the rapid changes of society.

Articulated issues

For his part, Lakhdar Elayyan, a professor of law at the University of Algeria, stressed that the country now needs a new constitution more than it needs a partial amendment, as its current constitution is originally based on dysfunctional pillars.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Olayan stipulated that the constitution be sustainable, "dealing with the crucial issues in it instead of merely marginal changes, and not diluting the stage of public debate, let alone adopting it through a popular referendum that would restore legality to it a supreme text."

He focused on the need to address the important aspects of how to exercise power, such as the status of the legislature and activating the oversight role of Parliament, as well as the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, in addition to granting greater powers to advisory institutions, rather than creating other bodies or changing the wording of articles in the same content, he said.

He also warned of "constitutional chatter and drowning in details", directing the Presidential Committee of Experts to the necessity of resolving the nature of the system of government in Algeria, where he said in this regard that the semi-presidential system is the most appropriate, since the requirements of the parliamentary or presidential model are absent from the Algerian political scene at the present time, At his discretion.