Algiers – Hussein Bou Saleh
Moussa Touati, head of the Algerian National Front Algiers – Hussein Bou Saleh Moussa Touati, head of the Algerian National Front describes the political and social situation in Algeria as difficult and heated due to a number of outstanding issues, the ambiguity surrounding them and the lack of a clear vision. The failure to form a government until now by the Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika confirms the political paralysis. Moussa claimed: “Algerian people are tired of useless promises that are so far from their demands and concerns. The solution is to dissolve the unlawful parliament and hold early elections whereby the constitution is amended and a national coalition government is formed including different political streams." Discussing the recent deterioration of social conditions including the high prices which accompany the holy month of Ramadan and the recurrent power outages in most regions, Touati says these problems stem from the generally poor management of the country and some officials’ preoccupation with their amassing of money, leaving simple citizens to scramble in their daily lives to survive between the hammer of high prices and the anvil of officials’ neglect. Touati explained his fears for the coming municipal elections scheduled for October 2012 and how ready the Algerian National Front is after coming out of the legislative elections with no seats gained. Moussa replied: “the fear is not about competition but of the regime’s manipulations and manoeuvrings with the results, similar to the scenario on May 10.” He claimed that his party had the ability to win if it hadn’t been for the intervention of higher authorities. In his view, boycotting the elections is a fearful idea haunting most political parties as it may reflect negatively on the opposition in comparison to the regime-affiliated parties. Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia’s recently mentioned the necessity of minor political parties of unifying together to enter municipal elections. He attributed their failure to reap the aspired results to the disintegration which some of the parties suffered in previous parliamentary elections. Commenting on this statement, Moussa Touati expressed dislike and called on the Interior Minister Kablia to pay heed to internal issues and leave the political parties aside without imposing himself on the "party life he did not witness." Speaking about the Syrian situation and the large number of Syrian-Algerian refugees entering the country, some of whom have a place to stay and some of them begging on streets, Moussa Touati said that “the authority in Algeria is lagging behind in dealing with the Syrian refugees issue." Taking care of them is a human necessity before anything and Algeria must respect nations’ right to decide their destiny. The Syrian people remain brothers to Algeria and they are a responsibility of every Algerian supporter of Arab nationalism”.