Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Abdelaziz Bouteflika (in Arab rear RTL عبدالعزيزبوتفليقة,), born on March 2nd 1937 with Oujda with the Morocco, is a statesman Algérie N which exerts the functions of president of the Republic of Algeria since the April 15th 1999. It is since February 2005 honorary president of party FLN (Front of national release) and Minister for defense.

Biography

Childhood

The father of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ahmed, was born with Tlemcen. He leaves Algeria following colonial repression, and finds refuge with the Morocco. Ahmed Bouteflika was married with two women: Belkaïd Rabia and Ghezlaoui Mansouriah, managing of a Hammam, which is the mother of Abdelaziz. Ahmed Bouteflika died in 1958.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika is born the March 2nd 1937 with Oujda in the North-West from the Morocco. He is the first child of his mother and the second of his father, Fatima being his older sister. He has four brothers (Abdelghani, Mustapha, Abderahim and Saïd), a sister (Latifa) and three half-sisters (Fatima, Yamina and Aïcha). Abdelaziz Bouteflika lived and studied in Oujda, then left the school in 1950 to join the school Hassania de Scout, before becoming monitor. It Marie in August 1990 with Amal Triki, girl of a former diplomat, Yahia Triki. The couple does not have a child.

Military engagement

During the War of Algeria, in 1956, the Armed with national release (ALN), military branches of the independence party Face of national release (FLN), orders with all the Algerian students to join its rows. Abdelaziz Bouteflika joined the Army of the borders in Morocco at the 19 years age. Abdelaziz Bouteflika then never carried of weapon. It made its reserve training at the School of the executives of the ALN of Dar El Kebdani (Morocco, Ville of Nador), then it became “controller” for the direction of the Wilaya V (in Morocco), its task consisted in “pleading the cause of the ALN” near the Algerian rural populations to obtain the rallying from it. It will be devoted to this function of controller during ten months, between 1957 and 1958.

In 1958, it was promoted by Houari Boumédiène and became administrative secretary within the headquarters of Wilaya V (in Morocco) then private secretary of Boumédiène to the PC of Wilaya V, but also with the PC of the Western staff and the PC of the general staff (1960).

In 2002 and 2005, the Politician French Pierre Messmer, former minister for the armies of Charles de Gaulle, shows it to have planned in 1962 the massacre of Harkis. Massacre which moreover according to the historian Pierre Vidal-Naquet fell under a logic of vendetta and but simply the result of popular vindication and the criminal abandonment of the harkis by France was never planned in which Pierre Messmer has a very heavy responsibility.

Political career

With the independence of Algeria, in September 1962, it becomes, at 25 years, Minister for youth and tourism in the government of the president Ahmed Ben Bella. Member of the first constitutional Parliament, it is elected appointed of Tlemcen at the legislative first and second Assemblies. After the congress of the FLN of April, it is named member of the Central committee and the political office of the FLN.

As from the year 1963, it has to carry out many missions abroad as Foreign Minister by interim. In June 1963, it is confirmed in its functions. Consequently it follows from there one period during which the young Foreign Minister (at the time younger minister of this department in the world) will direct the Algerian diplomacy, a diplomacy which made Algeria a country spokesperson of the Tiers-monde and the interlocutor privileged in the relationship between North and the South, during the same period it will obtain its greater dedication by chairing the 23e session of the General meeting of UNO. He will conclude for this reason with France, in the name of the Algerian Republic, the agreement of December 27th, 1968 relating to circulation, employment and with the stay in France of the Algerian nationals and their families, hones angular of the policy of great Algerian emigration. It will keep its station until the death of the president Houari Boumédiène.

The president Chadli Bendjedid appoints it minister of state in 1979. Bouteflika is nevertheless little by little isolated of the political scene which it leaves in 1981. It is translated in front of the disciplinary board of the FLN. It chooses to be exiled during 6 years in a hostile political context and of incrimination by the Court of Auditors of its management of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (see low for all the details of this business). It is of return in Algeria in January 1987 and takes share with the congress of the FLN of 1989 which elects it member of the Central committee. Had a presentiment of to occupy of the functions of minister, it declines these proposals, as it does not take action pursuant, in 1994, with the requests of which it is the object for his accession with the president's functions.

Presidency of the Republic

In December 1998, it announces its decision to be presented, in the capacity as independent candidate with the anticipated presidential election. Bouteflika is elected president, and succeeds Liamine Zéroual, the April 15th 1999 with resulting from a poll during which its adversaries are withdrawn, denouncing the conditions of organization of the vote. He is re-elected president in 2004 with the 1st turn of the election. In 2005, Bouteflika is named honorary president of the FLN by the eighth congress of the party.

Interior policy

The two mandates of president Bouteflika are marked by a firm will to civilize the mode. The professionalisation of the armed , retirement graded tops and the promotion of new men , close to the Head of the State, go in this direction. But the repression of the riots of Kabylie (black Spring) between April 2001 and 2002 discredits the image of the State. In August 2005, the nomination at the post of ambassador with Reduction of the general Larbi Belkheir, ex-director of cabinet of Bouteflika, also represented a recovery into hand of the army by the civil capacity.

The written press is weakened with the arrest of journalists in 2004: among them Mohamed Benchicou, director of the daily newspaper the Morning, condemned in June 2004 to a custodial sentence. A few months before, this last publishes a book in which it draws up a critical portrait of the president: “ Bouteflika, an Algerian imposture ”. Bouteflika was highly criticized by the association Reporters without borders which shows it to try to put at the step the private press country. Bouteflika promised into 1999 to respect the Freedom of the press.

In 2005, Bouteflika convenes for September a Référendum to make adopt a set of measures of which the goal is to restore civil peace in Algeria . He thus proposes to recognize the right to repairs with the families of missings, to grant to a form of Amnistie for the members of groups armed not culprits with massacres and to create a help for the widows and Orphelin S of members of killed armed groups. During the program for the referendum, carried out beating drum, the opposition and the families of the victims as well as associations of the Human rights are isolated debate. The media remain hermetic with any dispute and maintain a confusion between the right to refuse and the treason of the country. The State uses in this countryside all the average materials including the public funds for the only benefit of the partisans of the president.

This referendum poses all the same the problem of the missing people, whose fate cannot be the subject of an independent survey or international. The opposition criticizes an electoral masquerade where, according to it, the results are known in advance (97,36% of yes and 79,76% of participation, except in Kabylie with only 12% of participation). The 2 March 2006, it makes close the 42 establishments Francophone S in order to fight against the “linguistic deviation”. In July 2006, Abdelaziz Bouteflika signs a decree for gracier the journalists continued for slandering.

Economic policy

Algeria benefits since 1999 from a Economic conjuncture very favorable due to the rise from the price from the Pétrole, the State benefits from it to follow a policy of great work: realization of large building sites, construction of great public infrastructures. Can be quoted the construction of a new airport with Algiers, the urban projects of circulation in the metropolises, the East-West highway, as well as the movable park which gave a boom without precedent.

This policy of great work seems to start again the economy, but certain observers remain being wary compared to this policy who does not encourage the private Entrepreneuriat. The country became an immense building site, thus several foreign companies settle in Algeria to thus take their share of the cake of an ambitious economic program which rises to 150 billion dollars, 1 million residences are programmed for the period of 2004 to 2009, the building site of the East-West highway described as building site of the century is projected to be finalized for the end of 2008, for an investment of 16 billion dollars.

Foreign policy

Being itself Diplomat of career, it gives itself the challenge to rehabilitate the image of Algeria in the concert of the nations. Having acquired inward conviction that Algeria constitutes one of the four cardinal points of the Africa, it is interested much in the problems of this continent, and initiates for this purpose the idea of the NEPAD, which is adopted and followed by the majority of its African pars. He also carries out a mediation between the Érythrée and the Ethiopia (in war since 1997) which is crowned by the signature of the peace agreement of Algiers in 2000.

The problem of the the Western Sahara makes him balance, Morocco and Algeria studding each one on their respective positions. If the South Africa recognized RASD, Madagascar, the Chad the Serbia-and-Montenegro, the Kenya and the Costa Rica withdrew or cold theirs, and this conflict does not seem about to be solved in the short or medium term, consequently obérant the construction of a coherent economic whole to the the Maghreb. The relations with the Marocain neighbor remain very tended.

He is worried also relations between his country and the the United States, with which he intends to cooperate in all the fields. After the Attacks of September 11th, 2001, Bouteflika proposes at the end of an interview with the president George W. Bush, the co-operation of her country in the field of the fight against terrorism, field of co-operation which proves to be profitable have regard to the experience gained by Algeria in this field (cf Algerian Civil war).

With the France, president Bouteflika seeks to establish a policy of appeasing, the interview which it has with the French president Jacques Chirac in 2003 with Algiers, leads to an agreement for the signature of a treated of friendship between the two countries, but the vote of the law of the February 23rd 2005 by the French Parlement (recognizing in particular the positive role of the Colonisation ), a stone of obstacle for the signature of this treaty constitutes, Bouteflika will denounce on her side this law which it describes as mental blindness, confining with the Negationnism and with the Revisionism .

“Businesses”

The course of the accounts

December 22nd, 1981, Bouteflika is continued for “occult management of currencies on the level of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs” (between 1965 and 1978) by the Court of Auditors. In its final adoption of August 8th, 1983, the Court of Auditors gave its verdict: “Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika practiced at ends fraudulent an operation nonin conformity with the legal tendencies and lawful, principal of this fact of the infringements envisaged and punished by the ordinance n° 66-10 of June 21st, 1966 and articles 424 and 425 of the Penal code. ”. The Court of Auditors evaluated with “more than 6 billion centimes” (the equivalent of 100 billion current centimes) the amount whose Bouteflika remained indebted near the Treasury.

For her defense, Bouteflika will call upon with the magistrates of the Court of Auditors the construction of a new seat of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for which it would intend the treasury piled up on the Swiss accounts. The answer of the court: “This fallacious reason cannot be taken into account knowing that an operation of investment obeys quite precise rules that no director can be unaware of and that the possible construction of a new seat of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs must be financed by appropriations normally allocated with the budget of the State.”.

To promote its policy of “national accord”, on Thursday, September 2, 1999 he visits Tizi-Ouzou vis-a-vis a hostile crowd. He says: “If the Tamazight were to become national language, it will be never official. If it were to become national language, it would be by way chief clerk”. Crowd protests and Bouteflika adds “If you came to make grabuge, I am able to make grabuge as much that you”. In 2001, riots burst in Kabylie (the black Printemps). A political movement uses the popular discontent: the Arouch. The government of Bouteflika sees there “the hand from abroad”. The repression of the movement makes 126 dead and from the thousands of casualties, finally Bouteflika will return on what he said in 1999 and will make of tamazight (“the language Berbère”) national language without passing by a referendum.

The legislative elections of 2002 and the presidential ones of 2004 are boycotted by kabyles following the call of Arouch. Right before the referendum on the national reconciliation in 2005, the government of Bouteflika directed at the time by Ahmed Ouyahia finds an agreement with Arouch. Belaïd Abrika explains whereas “the platform of el ksour will be soon satisfied (...) including tamazight”, but day before Bouteflika the referendum gives a speech to Constantine: There is no country in the world having two official languages and it will be never the case in Algeria where the only official language, devoted by the Constitution, is Arabic . He will highly be criticized by the press and the movement Berbériste which recalls him that many countries in the world, like the India, the Suisse, Israel or the South Africa, have more than one official language. The referendum will be finally boycotted by 95% of the Kabyles, the same number as before.

Hospitalizations

Hospitalized with the Valley-of-Grace the November 26th 2005, it is, according to the official medical bulletin, operated of a Ulcère of the Estomac. During this period, information is very rare and the state of the president makes the object of speculation in the opinion and the press of its country. The exit of president Bouteflika takes place the December 17th. A televisual document then aims at reassuring the opinion, although it must follow a one unlimited duration convalescence. It shows the president tired in company of his attending physician Messaoud Zitouni who gives information on the nature of the disease and of the care which was lavished to him. It in addition aims to contradict and put a term at the speculations and rumors having circulated on this subject. It returns to Algeria the December 31st 2005.
He is again hospitalized with the Valley-of-Grace the April 20th 2006 for a “medical examination of follow-up” according to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Since the Algerian president took again these functions, and paid several visits outside as inside the country. It also specified that it had paid him even its hospitalization of which it forever be question that France assumes the cost.

Appendices

Internal bonds

List of the current leaders
Presidents of Algeria
Face of national release

External bonds

official Biography on the site of the Algerian presidency
the biography of Bouteflika by institute MEDEA (European Institute of research on the Mediterranean and Euro-Arab co-operation)

References

Random links: