In Algeria, 25 million voters will be called to the polls on Sunday 1 November. They must decide on a revision of the Constitution. The Algerian authorities present this text as the basis for a “new Algeria” and as a response to Hirak’s demands. One of the issues in the vote will therefore be turnout.
“Do you agree with the proposed revision of the Constitution proposed to you?” This is the question that Algerians must answer in Sunday’s referendum. The revised text amends a constitution, amended three times by the former head of state Abdelaziz Bouteflika and is considered tailor-made for him.
With this revision of the Constitution, the Algerian authorities believe they are responding to Hirak’s hopes. The protest movement, which demands a total change of the system, is also quoted in the preamble.
This new fundamental law emphasizes a number of rights and freedoms. More than 40 articles are devoted to it, but the text maintains a presidential regime without reducing the powers of the head of state.
Before the vote was rejected, the opposition rejected the project. For Hirak, whose weekly marches have been suspended since last March due to coronavirus, this referendum is a test. The participation rate will therefore be examined separately.
The date of the referendum is not trivial. November 1 marks the anniversary of the start of the war of independence against the French colonial power in 1954.
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