Almost a month after the election to the legislature, which was marked by a record-breaking vote and in the context of an economic and social crisis, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune presented the new team. At the domestic political level, little major change. At the diplomatic level, on the other hand, a remarkable return, that of Ramtane Lamamra to Foreign Affairs.
This is the only real surprise of this new government, the return of a heavyweight in Algerian diplomacy: Ramtane Lamamra, 69 years. He was already Foreign Minister under Abdelaziz Bouteflika, between 2013 and 2017 and also a former Peace and Security Commissioner for the African Union.
This return bodes well for Algeria’s desire to return to the center of regional strategic issues, especially in the Sahel. A desire to also weigh in on its lifelong rival: Morocco, which has gained ground with the US government’s recognition of its sovereignty over Western Sahara.
At the Algerian domestic level, on the other hand, this new government is “change in continuity”. Here is the sentence that reappears in the mouths of the observers. A total of 17 ministers from the previous team returned, no more women than before in the government. And there is no representative of the Islamist movement that has been announced, despite their points in the legislative election.
“Planning in Difficulties”
For researcher Kader Abderrahim, the composition of this team “testifies to a regime in difficulty, isolated, that first tightens its ranks at the seraglion level.” With “this new government without real news” at the domestic level, opponent Zoubida Assoul says he regrets that Algerian power “remains deaf to Algerian talks”, two and a half years later the first manifestations of Hirak and in the context of social difficulties exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to her, a roadmap is needed to get the country out of the economic crisis and dependence on hydrocarbons, free political prisoners and guarantee the protection of journalists.
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