Eurasia Review
Algeria’s People’s National Assembly
ALGERIA’S PEOPLE’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
By MISNA
Mohammed Moulessehoul, the widely-awarded author known by his pen name Yasmina Khadra, announced his intention of running as an independent candidate in the April 2014 presidential election in Algeria. In an interview with the Liberté newspaper on the sidelines of an International book fair in Algiers, the author and director of the Algerian cultural center in Paris stated: “It is official, I will run to lead the country”.
In regard to his electoral agenda, he told reporters that he will reveal it when he sees that his candidacy “is welcomed by the public opinion”, adding that in the contrary, he would “not go against the will of the people”.
Excluding that he would run for any political party, Khadra announced a collection of signatures: under the electoral law an independent candidate needs 60,000 signatures in 25 wilaya (prefectures) of the country.
In April 2014, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will end his third consecutive term in office. Though not officially announcing his intention of running again, due also to his delicate health, Bouteflik’s name was proposed by the new secretary general of the FLN (National Liberation Front), Amar Saadani.
The author, a former army officer, adopted the pen name Yasmina Khadra (his wife’s name) to avoid censorship of his work on the long Algerian civil war. He gained fame in 1998 with the novel ‘Morituri’. He only revealed his true identity in 2001 after leaving the army and going into exile in France.
