Middle East Monitor
Ali Benflis, former Prime Minister and current opposition leader. [File photo]
The Algerian regime has cancelled major constitutional reforms adopted in 2011 during the Arab Spring, the Anadolu Agency reported the country’s former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Ali Benflis saying yesterday.
On Sunday, the Algerian parliament adopted new reforms proposed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after it received 499 votes to two, with 16 abstentions, Parliament Speaker Abdelkader Bensalah said.
In a press conference held yesterday morning in Algeria, Benflis said: “The launch of the Arab revolutions in 2011 pushed the regime to make constitutional reviews in order to immunise itself against the infection of the Arab Spring.”
In 2011, Bouteflika promised constitutional reforms. The reforms reinstated a limit on presidential terms, gave the Berber language official status and disqualified Algerians with dual nationality from running for senior public positions.
