SENATE PRESIDENT ON BILATERAL RELATIONS, THIRD TERM

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 001053

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM AG
SUBJECT: SENATE PRESIDENT ON BILATERAL RELATIONS, THIRD TERM

REF: ALGIERS 750

Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Algerian Senate president said September
29 that, press reports notwithstanding, there had been no
official movement on a constitutional revision paving the way
for a third term for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) Senate President Abdelkader Bensalah told the
Ambassador September 29 that nothing official had yet
happened regarding a revision of the constitution and the
possibility of a third term for Bouteflika. He said the
press had been full of speculation, statements by various
parties, and erroneous reporting, but neither he nor his
colleagues knew yet whether Bouteflika intended to run for a
third term or not. He expected to find out "when the actual
document is submitted" proposing the revision. But, he
added, at issue was much more than just a third term. At
issue was rationalizing the distribution of powers within the
executive.


3. (C) Bensalah said the constitution of 1989 had been done
too quickly and had encouraged political pluralism "without
protection," allowing religion to be exploited for political
purposes. He described the Islamist trend of the 1990s as
"inhiraaf" (deviant, impure Islam),which caused Algeria to
regress to an "archaic" version of Islam. This prompted the
reassessment and revision of the constitution in 1996. Since
that time, he added, new issues had arisen as Algeria had
increasingly stabilized, and it had become clear there was a
need to rationalize better the distribution of powers within
the executive branch of government. He did not expand on
this, except to cite the "two presidents" issue -- i.e., the
powers of the president and the powers of the prime minister.



4. (C) The Senate president said there were now more
opportunities for bilateral engagement with the U.S. than
ever before. Bensalah said technical assistance to the
parliament had not occurred "at the level we had hoped," but
he was pleased that legislative engagement within the context
of MEPI would continue. Bensalah considered the visit of
Secretary Rice a success, saying that it had highlighted many
opportunities, particularly English-language education, which
he considered a top priority. He said there was a strong
current in Algerian schools and universities towards English,
and that Algeria was determined to make strides in this area.
Regarding commercial ties, he said that Algeria had no
preference for any country over another, and simply put
"Algeria's interests first." He specifically said U.S.
companies should not believe that French firms had an edge
because of language and the long history between the two
countries.


5. (C) COMMENT: According to the Algerian constitution,
Bensalah would take over as interim head of state in the
event that President Bouteflika becomes incapacitated or
passes away, and would be responsible for organizing
elections within 60 days. His take on the contents of a
proposed constitutional amendment are consistent with what we
have reported previously (ref A). We take his comment on the
distribution of powers within the executive to include the
possible creation of a vice presidency and/or the
clarification of the powers of the prime minister. Popular
belief is that either one would be seen as a sign of internal
consensus within the regime on the identity of an eventual
successor to Bouteflika. If Bensalah knew any more about
Bouteflika's intentions or the timing of the actual
amendment, he was not telling, but in our experience the
current air of political mystery is due to the fact that only
Bouteflika himself can speak to his intentions. Bensalah did
make clear that he is eager for more U.S. engagement, a theme
we have been hearing steadily as the Ambassador makes his
round of introductory calls.
PEARCE