Bouteflika: "Everyone should stop talking about my health"

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, Algeria (The Associated Press) - - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika angrily denounced speculation about his health, saying Tuesday that he had been very sick but has emerged in "an absolutely marvelous way." The Algerian leader, 69, spoke to reporters after a 4 1/2 hour-long meeting with French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy at a time of renewed tensions between the two countries and lingering questions about Bouteflika's health. "I was sick, very sick," he said, adding "I came out of it in an absolutely marvelous way." "Everyone should stop talking about my health," he said. Last year, Bouteflika was admitted to an Algiers hospital with what were described as gastrointestinal problems. The Algerian leader was later transferred to a Paris hospital for further treatment.

President Bouteflika says he was very ill

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers - Algerian newspapers on Wednesday welcomed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's candid admission of a recent illness and said it had removed an element of uncertainty hanging over the oil-exporting country's political scene.

Bouteflika, 69, shed months of official reticence about the sensitive topic when he told reporters on Tuesday he had recently been very ill but made an "absolutely fabulous" recovery. They shouldn't sensationalise the matter, he added.

"You're making a meal out of something that doesn't exist," he said in answer to a question. "I'm a man like absolutely everyone else. It's quite clear that if I had health problems I would have to go back home for good."

Newspapers said his comments were refreshingly candid.

The subject of Bouteflika's health is rarely broached publicly by Algerian officials although it has been widely discussed by ordinary Algerians since he visited France for medical treatment in November last year and again this year.

"This was a clear message to those who had already started to speak about the post-Bouteflika era following his admission to Val De Grace (hospital)," L'Expression wrote, referring to his November 2005 trip.

"Sometimes rumours are stronger than reality," it added, in a reference to the country's traditionally secretive politics.

The influential Liberte wrote: "The frankness with which the President replied (to questions) signalled his confidence that the illness is over ...The president dispelled the fears that had hovered in the background since his hospitalisation."

Analysts say the health of Bouteflika, who has sought to bring peace to the giant oil-exporting country of 33 million since taking office in 1999, is a critical factor in the political stability of Africa's second largest country.

Bouteflika's six-week absence from the public spotlight in the summer, and a more measured pace of public engagements compared to early years of his tenure, triggered talk among Algerians that he was again ill.

Serving a second and final five-year term, Bouteflika stirred speculation about a third term bid when he announced this year that he hoped to hold a referendum on changing the constitution to boost democracy.

He gave no details of what measures this would entail. But Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a Bouteflika ally, has proposed extending the length of the presidential mandate from five to seven years and abrogating the two-term limit.

Press hails Bouteflika's candour on health

[Al-khiyal]

It is a well-known fact that since he came to power after the 1999 elections, Algerian leader Bouteflika has expressed his dissatisfaction with the present constitution, saying that he can't agree to be 'a three-quarter president', writes Laeed Zaghlami:

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's intention to go for a third term is the source of speculation and rumours as are concerns of his poor health.

So far, there has been no official statement on the two issues. However, observers argue that if the president intends to stand in the next elections, he will have to amend Article 74 of 1996 constitution which restricts the present presidency's holder fixed two-term limit. In fact, the president's aims appear broader than just changing articles to enable him to stand for another term, his political allies say .

They add: "He actually wants to review and revise the letter and the spirit of the 1996 constitution and adapt it to the new political climate, as in his view, it offers limited presidential powers."

In fact, it is known that since he came to power after the 1999 elections, Mr Bouteflika has publicly expressed on many occasions his dissatisfaction with the present constitution, unequivocally affirming that he cannot accept to be 'a three-quarter president'. Even though, he has.

Report or annulment

Today, observers say that the time is ripe for a constitutional review as the internal political agenda has been tied with major events and issues; the amnesty law or national reconciliation assessment, terrorism and violence, local and general elections and more importantly the president's state of health.

Thus, in the light of this situation and in his initial schedule, President Bouteflika had planned last year, a referendum on a new constitution followed by the elections in the first half of this year. But in practice, there is "a slight change in the programme", announced the minister of Interior, Mr Yazid Noureddine Zerhouni.

"It was unpractical to hold the referendum as scheduled and then provide adequate facilities and conditions for two major elections," explained Mr Zerhouni. "The vote procedure requires at least 45 days to review and update the voters' lists, emphasised the interior minister.

He said the president would have to get the report on the referendum and fix another date for a referendum. But the local press has questioned if it is really just a report or annulment?

Quest for consensus

In his attempt to dispel rumours and remove doubts and misgivings about this issue, Mr Abdelaziz Belkhadem, the prime minister and secretary general of the National Liberation Front, told Algerian TV that "the date of the referendum will be fixed within the next three months'".

He said that following his several meetings with ministers during the holy month of Ramadhan, the president was now assessing different sector activities to set up priorities.

For his part, Mr Ahmed Ouyahia, former prime minister and secretary general of the National Democratic Rally party, supported the president's programme. In his interview with the Algerian Radio Channel Three, he said: "The referendum has been postponed because it is important as it will determine Algerian politics for years to come."

Prime minister Belkhadem said: "Three versions of the revised text (it implies one of them is at his NFL party initiative) are on the president's desk and obviously it requires weeks for further examination."

In his comments alluding to the prime minister's declaration, Mr Ouyahia said "it is not up to political parties to propose any texts, it is of sole constitutional competence and authority of the president". Further, he says 'the next constitution is not a Scottish dress (kilt) which has different colours'.

After all, asked journalist Omar Berbiche from Algerian newspaper El Watan: "Why should President Bouteflika be in hurry to revise the constitution and accommodate it to his third term wishes while his current mandate ends in April 2009?"

Presidential or parliamentary regime

On the other hand, what kind of political regime does the president prefer, a journalist asked Mr Ouyahia at his press conference after the presidential coalition meeting on November 10 last year. In a diplomatic manner, he replied that "Bouteflika does not opt for a presidential regime or a parliamentary one, but does advocate a regime that will solve the problems of Algerians'.

This answer added more ambiguity to the present situation and did not help to provide a clear picture and good visibility over the Algerian politics, argued one journalist.

Rachid Grim, professor of political sciences, wrote (in El Watan of November 6) that President Bouteflika's objectives are to introduce a real and efficient presidential regime such as that in the U.S. (but what about Congress and Senate roles?), reconsider the present inefficient form of the senate and parliament, create the vice-presidency and more importantly establish a system that enables automatic succession and protects and maintains it for a lasting period.

Therefore, the 'omnipotent, omnipresent and personal regime will not be any more accepted in Algeria, and the next democratically elected president ought to cope with his political allies as well as with potential adversaries' noted the scholar.

Prof Grim concluded that President Bouteflika's immediate duties are to construct "the necessary constitutional bridges" that ensure a pacific and democratic takeover between him and his successor's protégé whose obligations are to salvage the political system and secures its perpetuation'.

Encouraging reconciliation

After two successive tenures, has the president achieved all the political economic, social and cultural objectives that he has been pledging? What is his tenure's assessment? asked Prof Grim.

According to official figures and facts, economic growth reached five per cent in 2005, and social conditions improved. Registered as general trends, were peace and reconciliation law that brought fruitful results in spite of "residual terrorist acts".

Also political and social stability has been gradually re-established with the advent of the social pact agreed upon last September between the government, private sector and trade unions' representatives. However, this general optimistic note is contradicted by recent terrorist attacks and a series of economic scandals and corruption. But observers consider that terrorist acts of violence are an attempt to obstruct the president's political ambitions.

For his part, Mr Boujera Soltani, president of the Islamic Peace Society Movement, affirmed that terrorism had been defeated. It was now confined to a few remote places, but what is happening as acts of terrorism, Mr Soltani said, were the manifestations of 'the financial mafia'.

In his assessment of the national reconciliation law, Mr Soltani was pleased with its outcome. "Facts speak for themselves," said Mr Belkhadem; his ally from the presidential coalition.

"In fact, results of the amnesty law are beyond our hopes." affirmed the prime minister and secretary general of the National liberation party. He said they were very encouraging. Some 10, 346 social inquiries, 6,052 from terrorists families and relatives were examined in which, 3,769 were accepted for compensation while the rest were under investigation.

There were 6,601 cases of persons lost or reported to have been abducted, of which 3,610 cases were solved and proof documents delivered to families.

After all, declared Mr Belkhadem, "no one had pledged that with the implementation of the reconciliation law, terrorist acts will cease, neither does it guarantee a complete and peaceful solution. But it will ultimately consolidate peace and stability in the country."

He added: "'It is only the willingness of the people in observing the reconciliation law that is more powerful than the terrorists' destructive aims."

President's health state

Another important matter was the president's health. Will he be able physically to stand for a third term? asked Ghania Oukazi, a journalist from Quotidien d'Oran.

"In fact," she wrote, "his last sickness has introduced a new parameter in the political equation and on his possible succession."

The local press reported that Mr Bouteflika was tired and faced difficulties to defend his political projects.

Journalist Hanafi Taguemout, in a commentary (El Watan 12 November 2006) says the president will decline a third term invitation but he wants to have the last word on the successor's choice.

"Will he have time to do so?" asked the commentator. In his response to the president's health concern, Mr Ouyahia said Mr Bouteflika was healthy and well. He said the President had made several public appearances in Algeria and during his attendance of the recent African-Chinese Summit followed by a long visit to China. These showed that his health problems are of media creation and speculation for political purposes.

In the end, observing all the last events, it looks as if Algeria has begun early election campaigns. So, rumours, speculation and political manoeuvres are poised to reach their 'cruise speed' in the next few months in the national arena.

Constitutional and political constraints or health concerns?

[Al-khiyal]

Samedi 17 Novembre 2007 -- Les médecins ont levé les contraintes imposées au président Abdelaziz Bouteflika pour sa convalescence à la suite d'une opération chirurgicale au Val de Grâce à Paris en novembre 2005, a annoncé samedi le quotidien arabophone algérien Annahar.

"L'équipe médicale du président Bouteflika a décidé récemment de lever les contraintes de déplacement et d'activité qu'elle lui avaient imposées dans le cadre de sa convalescence" après l'opération qu'il a subie en novembre 2005 au Val de Grâce à Paris, affirme Annahar, citant des sources médicales proches du chef de l'Etat. "Les médecins ont donné leur feu vert pour que le président Bouteflika reprenne normalement ses activités comme avant son opération", précise le quotidien.

Le président algérien, qui s'est envolé samedi à Ryad pour assister au sommet des pays de l'Organisation des pays exportateurs de pétrole (OPEP), doit recevoir le 25 novembre le président malien Amadou Toumani Touré. Il doit également accueillir début décembre le président français Nicolas Sarkozy, qui est attendu pour sa première visite d'Etat en Algérie depuis son élection en mai.

Fin de la longue période de convalescence de Bouteflika

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, December 21, 2007: Now you see him. Now you don't.

Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika falls out of sight for weeks at a time, and was notably silent when suicide bombs tore through two important buildings in Algiers, one housing U.N. offices. That rang alarm bells about his health and questions about his political plans for a country he has sought to stabilize.

Is the 70-year-old Bouteflika, who has been treated for a stomach ailment, still sick? Or is this a strategy to prolong his presidency? Or is it something more cryptic?

Such enigmatic disappearing acts apparently add to Bouteflika's charisma. A powerful faction within Algeria's political elite is clamoring for him to run for a third term in 2009 — an issue that even the stunning December 11 bombings and their 37* victims could not knock out of the news.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni suggested a link between the two. A day after the attacks, he told Chaine 1 radio there was a "probable" tie between the bombings — claimed by Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa — and the debate over a third term for Bouteflika, a firm U.S. ally in the war on terror.

The minister pointed to the bombing of the Constitutional Council, which must validate any changes to the constitution — needed for Bouteflika to seek a third term.

Between the murky world of Algerian politics, where powerful clans hold sway, and the nebulous realm of terrorism, nothing seems excluded.

"By not reacting to the attacks, the head of state accentuated the sense of abandon of the population," the daily El Watan commented. "They don't understand that security comes second to the 'third presidential mandate.'"

The growing anxiety over whether Bouteflika, in office since 1999, could extend his mandate reflects the uncertainties gripping this gas-rich North African nation. It is trying to overcome 15 years of terrorism, modernize its state-centered economy and feed and house its growing population — all without upsetting the special interests within the power structure.

"The big uncertainty here now is not a third mandate but who would take over after" Bouteflika, said Robert P. Parks, director of the research center in the western city of Oran for the American Institute for Maghreb Studies.

"He's brought stability, he has diminished terrorism, he has reinserted Algeria into the international diplomatic arena," Parks said by telephone. "And Algeria is much richer today than in 1999," when Bouteflika took office.

The country gasped when Bouteflika narrowly escaped a September 6 bomb attack in the eastern city of Batna that killed at least 22 people waiting to see the visiting president. The press says the president, who arrived late, was the target.

The incident raised the level of concern about who could replace him with few potential candidates around. Among names floated are former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia or another former prime minister known as a reformist, Mouloud Hamrouche.

For nearly four decades after Algeria won independence from France in a brutal war, army generals called the shots, directly or from off-stage. Except for Algeria's first president in 1962, Ahmed Ben Bella, appointed then ousted by the army, Bouteflika has been the country's only civilian leader.

He is a proven political survivor who has made no secret of his wish to change the constitution to allow for a "strong presidency," and a third term. The president is currently limited to two five-year terms.

The leading party in the governing coalition, the National Liberation Front, or FLN, has pushed for months for a constitutional change. With Bouteflika its president and Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem its secretary general, the FLN — the sole party for nearly 30 years, until 1989 — is well-placed to get its way.

But health issues raise questions.

Bouteflika was rushed to France in 2005 with what was said to be a bleeding ulcer. But doubts were raised about the real nature of his illness with observers, including doctors, concluding that he may suffer from stomach cancer.

This month's double suicide bombings added to the doubts.

The al-Qaida affiliate which took responsibility for the bombings grew out of an Islamic insurgency movement, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, trying to topple the state.

For the interior minister, the two are "the same" organization trying to attack the democratic process in Algeria.

Bouteflika reappeared several days after the bombings to accept official condolences for the attacks, and later met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Newspapers showed Bouteflika in photos but so far have had not a word to quote.

A year ago, Bouteflika conceded he had been "very ill" but recovered and was "absolutely fabulous." He asked the press to drop the subject.

"I think Bouteflika thinks he's immortal. I have no doubt that if he is fit, or he feels he's fit, that he will run" for a third term if the proposal to change the constitution gets full backing, said Jon Marks, editor of the monthly Algeria Focus and an Algeria watcher for 27 years.

"There will be internal political disputes, some of those could get extremely nasty, but he will run."

Absences of Algeria's enigmatic president: sick leave or strategy to hang on to power?

[Al-khiyal]

Lundi 31 Décembre 2007 -- Le FLN fait mine de rassurer l’opinion et agit comme si le président était en possession de toutes les capacités physiques à même de lui permettre de briguer ce fameux troisième mandat dont tout le monde parle sauf le principal intéressé.

Bouteflika a disparu littéralement du devant de la scène depuis trois mois et n’apparaît que d’une manière épisodique sur le petit écran, mais cela ne semble pas émouvoir ses zélateurs qui continuent de le couvrir d’éloges en évitant soigneusement de parler de l’objet de préoccupation de la rue : le premier magistrat du pays peut-il encore assumer pleinement ses responsabilités politiques ? Est-il malade et de quel mal récurrent et grave est-il atteint ? S’est-il bien remis de son intervention chirurgicale du Val de Grâce ? Pourquoi s’évertue-t-on à ne point communiquer sur un sujet aussi crucial que la santé du chef de l’Etat ?

Trois décennies après Boumediene, nos «sages décideurs» considèrent-ils toujours «immature» leur peuple pour ne pas publier le véritable bulletin de santé du premier des Algériens ? Si notre président est aussi bien portant qu’on le laisse entendre, pourquoi a-t-il réduit sensiblement son activité jusqu’à annuler un important Conseil des ministres ? S’il souffre d’une maladie grave, pourquoi le FLN veut, au mépris du bon sens, présenter sous sa bannière son «fils prodige» à la prochaine présidentielle après avoir trituré la Constitution pour rendre possible une troisième candidature ?

Autant de questions qui pourraient rester sans réponses cette fois aussi sauf si, dans un miraculeux sursaut de conscience républicaine, nos gouvernants se décidaient, enfin, à dire la vérité – toute la vérité, même celle qui fait mal ! – à ce peuple algérien dont ils louent «l’esprit responsable» à longueur de discours triomphalistes. Alors que la rumeur s’amplifie sur l’état de santé du chef de l’Etat, il devient important de libérer la parole de ses médecins traitants afin que le sujet ne soit plus confiné au secret entre les murs épais du sérail.

Par respect aux millions d’électeurs, qui ont placé en lui leur confiance, le président de la République pourrait s’adresser directement à la nation pour évoquer son état de santé. A défaut, il laisserait «filtrer» par les canaux officiels les informations nécessaires à la bonne compréhension du «sujet de l’heure». Sinon, ce serait la voie ouverte à toutes les spéculations. A toutes les dérives…

La maladie du président est-elle un secret d’Etat ?

[Al-khiyal]

Bouteflika denies rumours of his illness in his own way