Jan 08, 2016 The Algeria’s government recently unveiled draft constitutional reforms. The proposed amendments will include a two-term presidency limit, an obligatory consultation with parliament before naming a prime minister and making local Amazigh an official language.
Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, had earlier promised a package of amendments to strengthen democracy in the North African state.
According to the presidential cabinet director, Ahmed Ouyahia, the proposed reforms will have to be approved by parliament before being adopted in the constitution.
While addressing reporters, Ouyahia said:
“I will talk about the procedures and the proposals for the promotion of democracy and there is a number of measures for that. The first is about the post of President of the Republic and presidential terms. There are two proposals, the first is for Article 74, in which the renewal of the presidential mandate is possible once only; the second, for article Article 178, which contains all the measures that can’t be reviewed, so this clause can’t be changed in any constitutional amendment,”
When the proposals were initially discussed last year, they major clauses included delegating more executive authority to the prime minister as well as reforms for the press.