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Abdelaziz Bouteflika (IPA: [abdəlazɪz butəflika]) (Arabic: عبد العزيز بوتفليقة) (born March 2, 1937 in Oujda, Morocco) has been the President of Algeria since 1999. Image File history File linksMetadata Bouteflika_(Algiers,_Feb_2006). ...
The President is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Algerian armed forces. ...
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is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
This article is about the year. ...
Smail Hamdani (Arabic: ) (born 1930) is an Algerian politician. ...
Ahmed Benbitour (born June 20, 1946 in Metlili, Ghardaia wilaya, Algeria) is an Algerian politician. ...
Ali Benflis (born September 8, Algeria and former Prime Minister from 2000 to 2003. ...
Ahmed Ouyahya Ahmed Ouyahia (born July 2, 1952) is the Prime Minister of Algeria. ...
Abdelaziz Belkhadem (born November 8, Algeria) is an Algerian politician. ...
Liamine Zéroual (born 3 July 1941) was President of Algeria from 31 January 1994 to 27 April 1999. ...
March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ...
Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Oujda is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of half a million inhabitants. ...
The National Rally for Democracy is a political party in Algeria. ...
Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. ...
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is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Oujda is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of half a million inhabitants. ...
The President is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Algerian armed forces. ...
This article is about the year. ...
Family Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been married since August 1990 and has no children. His wife Amal Triki is a daughter of an ex-diplomat (Yahia Triki). She currently does not live with him, but rather in Paris. This article is about the capital of France. ...
Bouteflika has three half-sisters (Fatima, Yamina, and Aïcha) with whom he has no contact, four brothers (Abdelghani, Mustapha, Abderahim and Saïd) and one sister (Latifa).
His father, Ahmed Bouteflika, was born in Telemcen, he immigrated to Morocco when he was young, Ahmed Bouteflika was married to two women: Belkaïd Rabia and Ghezlaoui Mansouriah (the mother of the current President).
When Abdelaziz Bouteflika was born on March 2, 1937 in Morocco (Oujda), he was the first child of his mother and the second child of his father, Fatima, his half-sister, preceded him.
His mother, Ghezlaoui Mansouriah, was working in a hammam in Morocco. A hammam in Chefchaouen, Morocco The Turkish hammam (also Turkish bath or hamam) is the Middle Eastern variant of a steam bath, which can be categorized as a wet relative of the sauna. ...
His official biography omits the fact that he was born and lived in Morocco, most likely for political reasons.[1]
Early years and War of Independence Bouteflika lived and studied in Morocco until he joined the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) in 1956, at the age of 19. He started as a 'controller' (checking the situation and making reports on what's happening in the Moroccan border and in west Algeria), but later became the administrative secretary of Houari Boumédiène. Many leaders of the Algerian War of Independence say that some of his reports caused the assassination of several heroes of the war, such as that of Boucif.[citation needed] The National Liberation Front (French: Front de libération nationale aka FLN, Arabic: Jabhah al-TaḩrÄ«r al-WaÅ£anÄ«) is a socialist political party in Algeria. ...
Houari Boumédienne (original name Mohamed Ben Brahim Boukharouba) (August 23, 1932 – December 27, 1978) (Arabic: هواري بومدين) served as President of Algeria from 19 June 1965 to 27 December 1978 and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council until 12 December 1976. ...
Combatants FLN (1954-62) MNA (1954-62) France (1954-62) FAF (1960-61) OAS (1961-62) Commanders Mostefa Benboulaïd Ferhat Abbas Hocine Aït Ahmed Ahmed Ben Bella Krim Belkacem Larbi Ben MHidi Rabah Bitat Mohamed Boudiaf Messali Hadj General Jacques Massu General Maurice Challe Bachaga Said Boualam...
In 1960, Boumédiène nominated him to a position in Tunisia but Bouteflika was unreachable, and no one knew where he was. When he showed up after traveling in Europe, disciplinary actions were going to be taken against him, but Boumédiène decided otherwise. Bouteflika was nominated to another function in Mali to open a new front. Some observers see this affectation as punishment since, they argue, there was no front to "open" from this sahelian country. After some weeks in Mali, Bouteflika disappeared again, he showed up after several months spent in Morocco with a woman.[citation needed] Once again he was forgiven by Boumédiène. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...
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In 1962, as independence arrived, he aligned with Boumédiène and the border armies in supporting Ahmed Ben Bella against the provisional GPRA government. Ahmed Ben Bella Mohamed Ahmed Ben Bella (Muhammad Ahmad Bin Balla) (Arabic: ) (born December 25, 1918?, Maghnia, Algeria) was the first President of Algeria, and seen by many as the Father of the Nation. ...
The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (French, Gouvernement Provisoire de la République Algérienne, GPRA) was the government-in-exile of the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) resistance movement, during the latter part of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62). ...
Early post-independence political career After Algeria's independence in 1962, he became deputy of Tlemcen in the Constituent Assembly and Minister for Youth and Sport in the government led by Ahmed Ben Bella. The next year, he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, and would remain in the post until the death of President Houari Boumedienne in 1978. He was considered very close to Boumédiène, and an important member of his "Oujda clan"; Ben Bella's attempt to dismiss Bouteflika in 1965 is considered the triggering factor in Boumédiène's coup d'état some time later. With Boumédiène in power, Bouteflika rose to a position of great importance within the regime, and he was generally seen as one of the two main candidates to succeed Boumédiène, who died in 1978. (He was seen to represent the party's "right wing", more open to economic reform and rapprochement with the West; Col. Mohamed Salah Yahiaoui represented the "boumédiènist" left wing. [1] In the end, the military opted for a compromise candidate, Col. Chadli Bendjedid. Bouteflika was reassigned the role of Minister of State, but successively lost power as Bendjedid's policies of "de-Boumédiènisation" marginalised the old guard. The Oujda group or Oujda clan was a gathering of military officers and politicians in Algeria, during its War of Independence (1954-62) and until approximately the 1970s. ...
Chadli Bendjedid (Arabic: ) (born April 14, 1929 at Zeitouna, near Annaba) was President of Algeria from February 9, 1979 to January 11, 1992. ...
The Court of Financial Auditors In 1981, he was sued for having stolen Algerian embassies' money between 1965 and 1979, On 8 August 1983, Bouteflika was convicted by The Court of Financial Auditors and found guilty of having fraudulently taken 60 million dinars during his diplomatic career. is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ...
In his defence, Bouteflika said that he "reserved" that money to build a new building for the foreign affairs ministry, but the court judged his argument to be "fallacious".
In 1979, just after the death of Boumédiène, Bouteflika reimbursed 12 212 875,81 out of the 70 millions that was put in a Swiss bank.
Although Bouteflika was granted amnesty by the president Chadli Bendjedid, his colleagues Senouci and Boudjakdji were jailed. Chadli Bendjedid (Arabic: ) (born April 14, 1929 at Zeitouna, near Annaba) was President of Algeria from February 9, 1979 to January 11, 1992. ...
After the amnesty, Bouteflika was given back his diplomatic passport, a villa where he used to live but did not own and all his debt was erased; he never paid back the money "he reserved for a new foreign affairs ministry's building".[2]
The "Exile" In 1983 he left the country and stayed in the United Arab Emirates, France and Switzerland. After six years abroad, he finally came back and rejoined the Central Committee of the FLN in 1989.
In January 1994, Bouteflika refused the Army’s proposal to succeed the assassinated president, Mohamed Boudiaf, presumably to avoid asking the support of the political parties.[citation needed] Instead, Gen. Liamine Zeroual became President. Muhammad Boudiaf (June 23, 1919 - June 29, 1992), also called Si Tayeb el Watani, was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberation Front (FLN) that led the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962). ...
Genesis (Greek: ΓÎνεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ...
Liamine Zeroual (born 1941) is an Algerian general and political figure. ...
Elected President in 1999 In 1999, Liamine had unexpectedly stepped down and announced prescheduled elections. Bouteflika ran for President as an independent candidate, supported by the military. He was elected with 74% of the votes, according to the official count. All other candidates withdrew from the election prior to the vote, citing fraud concerns. Bouteflika subsequently organized a referendum on his policies to restore peace and security to Algeria (involving amnesties for Islamist guerrillas) and to test his support among his countrymen after the contested election. He won with 81% of the vote, but this figure was also disputed by opponents. Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: A referendum (plural referendums or referenda), ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...
Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
This article is about political Islam For the religion of Islam, see Islam. ...
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Economic policies During his first mandate Bouteflika launched a five year economical plan (2000-2004), called the Support Plan for Economic Recovery (PSRE: Plan de Soutien à la Relance Economique). The plan was a package of various sub-plans such as the National Plan for Agricultural Development (PNDA: Plan National pour le Développement Agricole), aimed at boosting agricultural production. Other sub-plans included the construction of social housing units, roads, and other infrastructure projects. The PSRE totalled $7 billion worth of spending, and gave satisfactory results with the economy averaging higher than 5% annual growth rates, with a peak of 6.3% in the year 2003. Bouteflika also pushed through a fiscal reform which participated in the economic revival.
Foreign policy Bouteflika was also active on the international scene. He presided over the African Union in 2000 and secured the Algiers Peace Treaty between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and supported peace efforts in the African Great Lakes Region. He also secured a friendship treaty with neighbouring Spain in 2002, and welcomed president Chirac of France on a state visit to Algiers in 2003, in a prelude to the signature of a friendship treaty. Relations with the Kingdom of Morocco remained slightly tense, with diplomatic clashes on the issue of the Western Sahara, despite promising beginnings in 1999. Anthem Let Us All Unite and Celebrate Together [1] Administrative Centre Largest city Cairo, Egypt Working languages Arabic English French Portuguese Swahili Membership 53 African states Leaders - Chairman John Kufuor - Alpha Oumar Konaré Establishment - as the OAU May 25, 1963 - as the African Union July 9, 2002 Area - Total 29...
A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...
The Great Lakes region can refer to: The Great Lakes region of North America The Great Lakes region of Africa This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
“Chirac†redirects here. ...
This article is about the capital of Algeria. ...
Arab nationalism and the Kabyle claim During the electoral campaign of 1999, the candidate Bouteflika was badly welcomed by the Kabyle population, many people insulted him and threw stones at him, after the incident he said "I thought I will find giants, but I found gnomes!" to his auditors, he also advised the local population to "go out from Kabylie and discover the rest of Algeria", he also said : "The Berber language will never, never be an official language in Algeria". Since then he has never attended any meeting in Kabylie. The Kabyle population boycotted the election (5% participation in Kabylie) knowing that the military would alter the elections in his favour, and even though there was 5% participation, he got less than 50% of the votes in Kabylie. The Kabyles are a Berber people whose traditional homeland is highlands of Kabylie (or Kabylia) in northeastern Algeria. ...
Location of Kabylie Largest city Béjaïa Government Not an administrative unit Area - Total 44 000 km² sq mi Population - estimate 7000000[1] (2004) - Density 170 /km² /sq mi Great Kabylie in 1857 Kabylie or Kabylia (Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel) is a cultural region in the north of Algeria. ...
The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ...
Location of Kabylie Largest city Béjaïa Government Not an administrative unit Area - Total 44 000 km² sq mi Population - estimate 7000000[1] (2004) - Density 170 /km² /sq mi Great Kabylie in 1857 Kabylie or Kabylia (Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel) is a cultural region in the north of Algeria. ...
In 2001, a young Kabyle activist (Guermah Massinissa) was arrested with no reason by the gendarmes and was "accidentally" killed inside the gendarmerie. This provoked terrible riots in Kabylie that lasted for months. Bouteflika's government claimed that the real name of Massinissa was in fact Karim and that he was a jobless criminal of 26 years old. Several months after having said that, the governments admitted that the real name was in fact Massinissa, and that he was an innocent high school student. The minister of interior Yazid Zerhouni said that he "was badly informed". But still; no apologies were given to the victim. The riots did not stop. Massinissa Guermah Massinissa Guermah of northern Algeria was a young Kabyle (Berber) killed by gendarmes in 2001. ...
A gendarmerie (French) is a military body charged with general police duties. ...
A gendarmerie or gendarmery (pronounced ) is a military body charged with police duties among civilian populations. ...
Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni (Arabic:نورالدين يزيد زرهوني) (b. ...
During the Kabyle crisis of 2001, also called the "Black Spring," Bouteflika's government maintained that the Kabyles were "manipulated by a foreign hand."
A march that brought about 500 000 Kabyles into the capital, Algiers, was organized by the Arouch, it was followed by a confrontation between the local population of Algiers and the Kabyles. The police sided with the "Algérois" and the sole TV channel in Algeria thanked "les Algérois for having defended their town from the invaders". Since then marches in Algiers have become prohibited. This article is about the capital of Algeria. ...
The Berber Arouch Citizens Movement, or simply Arouch, is an organization representing Algerian Berbers. ...
At the end, Bouteflika had to capitulate to some of the Kabyle revendications, he withdrew the gendarmes from Kabylie and added the Berber language as a "national language" in the constitution. A gendarmerie (French) is a military body charged with general police duties. ...
126 young Kabyles were killed, hundreds were severely injured in these riots, also many were tortured by the gendarmes. A new political movement appeared : The Movement for the autonomy of Kabylie which has Regionalistic revendications that never existed among the Kabyle population. The Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK) (Kabyle: Timanit i Tmurt n Iqbayliyen) is a Berber organization which demands autonomous status for the region of Kabylie in Algeria. ...
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Second term in 2004 On April 8, 2004, he was re-elected by 85% of the vote in an election that was praised by OSCE observers as an example of democracy in the Arab world, while contested by his rival and former Chief of Staff Ali Benflis. Several opponents alleged that the election had not been fair, and pointed to extensive state control over the broadcast media. April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Presidential elections were held in Algeria on April 8, 2004. ...
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for security. ...
Arab States redirects here. ...
Ali Benflis (born September 8, Algeria and former Prime Minister from 2000 to 2003. ...
The Kabyle population boycotted the election, participation did not exceed 11%. This article focuses on the geographical area of Kabylie and its people. ...
Reconciliation plan During the first year of his second term, President Bouteflika held a referendum on his "Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation", inspired by the 1995 "Sant'Egidio Platform" document. Bouteflika's plan aims at concluding his efforts of ending the civil war, from a political and judicial point of view. He obtained large popular support with this referendum and has since instructed the government and Parliament to work on the technical details of its implementation. Critics have claimed that the plan will only grant immunity to members of the armed forces responsible for crimes, as well as to terrorists and have argued for a plan similar to South Africa's "truth and reconciliation commission" to be adopted instead. Bouteflika has dismissed the calls, claiming that each country needs to find its own solutions to ending painful chapters of its history. Thus far he has received large political support on this issue, from both the Islamist and the Nationalist camps, and most of the Democrat camp - except one party: the FFS (Front of Socialist Forces). Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: A referendum (plural referendums or referenda), ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...
The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was a referendum proposed on September 29, 2005 by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in an attempt to bring closure to the Algerian Civil War. ...
The SantEgidio platform was an attempt by the major Algerian opposition parties to put an end to the Algerian Civil War. ...
Combatants Algerian government Islamic Armed Movement (MIA) Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) others. ...
Algeria has a long history of revolution and regime change, making the political climate dynamic and often in a state of change. ...
The armed forces of Algeria is comprised of the Peoples National Army (ANP), Algerian National Navy (MRA), Air Force (QJJ), and Territorial Air Defense Force. ...
Terrorist redirects here. ...
This article is about political Islam For the religion of Islam, see Islam. ...
Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution 1830. ...
For other uses, see Democracy (disambiguation). ...
Politics of Algeria Categories: Algerian political parties | Politics stubs ...
Economic policies The first year of Bouteflika's second term also featured a new five year plan, much larger this time drafted. The Complementary Plan for Economic Growth Support (PCSC: Plan Complementaire de la Croissance Economique) aims for the construction of 1 million housing units, the creation of 2 million jobs, the completion of the East-West 1200km long highway, the completion of the Algiers subway project, the delivery of the new Algiers airport, and other similar large scale infrastructure projects. The PCSC totals $60 billion of spending over the five year period. Bouteflika also aims to bring down the external debt from $21 billion to $12 billion in the same time. He has also obtained from Parliament the reform of the law governing the oil and gas industries, despite initial opposition from the workers unions. However, Bouteflika has since stepped back from this position, supporting amendments to the hydrocarbon law in 2006, which propose watering down some of the clauses of the 2005 legislation relating to the role of SONATRACH, the state owned oil & gas company, in new developments. It also proposes new provisions enabling the country to benefit from windfall taxes on foreign investors in times of high prices. Bouteflika has also put up for sale 1300 public sector companies, and has already achieved privatization of about 150 of them, mainly in the tourism, food processing, cement, construction material and chemical industries. Houari Boumedienne Airport serves Algiers, the capital of Algeria. ...
Petro redirects here. ...
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A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers. ...
This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Foreign policy On the international scene, Bouteflika's second mandate has seen diplomatic tensions rise with France due to the controversial voting by the French Parliament of a law ordering French history school books to teach that French colonisation had positive effects abroad, especially in North Africa. The diplomatic crisis which ensued has put on hold the signing of a friendship treaty with France (February 23, 2004, re-endorsed in December 2005). In 2004 Bouteflika also organised the Arab League Summit and became President of the Arab League for one year. His calls for reform of the League did not gain sufficient support to pass in during the Algiers summit however. The Parlement of France is bicameral, and consists of the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and the Senate (Sénat). ...
Map of the first (light blue) and second (dark blue) French colonial empires France has had colonial possessions, in various forms, since the beginning of the 17th century until the 1960s. ...
Northern Africa (UN subregion) geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ...
is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Headquarters Cairo, Egypt1 Official languages Arabic Membership 22 Arab states 2 observer states Leaders - Secretary General Amr Moussa (since 2001) - Council of the Arab League Sudan - Speaker of the Arab Parliament Nabih Berri Establishment - Alexandria Protocol March 22, 1945 Area - Total 13,953,041 (Western Sahara Included) = 13,687,041...
Arab nationalism and the Kabyle claim Bouteflika's government organized local elections in Kabylie with the agreement of the Arouch (the government promised to satisfy all the Kabyle revendications), but the day of the elections, Bouteflika said : "I don't know any country in the world where two official languages coexist". He also added : "Algeria will never have any other official language than Arabic". [3]
The improvised local elections were not very successful; only 30% of the Kabyles participated. The majority of the seats were taken by two Secularist and Berberist political parties: the FFS and the RCD. Politics of Algeria Categories: Algerian political parties | Politics stubs ...
The Rally for Culture and Democracy (French: Rassemblement pour la Culture et la Démocratie) is a political party in Algeria. ...
Hospitalization in 2005 Bouteflika was admitted to a hospital in France on 26 November 2005, reportedly suffering from a gastric ulcer hemorrhage, and discharged three weeks later. [4] However, the length of time for which this normally publicity-loving leader remained virtually incommunicado led to rumours that he was critically ill with stomach cancer.[5] He checked into the hospital again in April 2006 [6].
Constitutional amendment in 2006 Bouteflika appointed a new Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, in 2006. Belkhadem announced plans to amend the Algerian Constitution to allow the President to run for office indefinitely often and increase his powers. [7] Abdelaziz Belkhadem (born November 8, Algeria) is an Algerian politician. ...
The Algerian Constitution was first established in 1963, following the Algerian War of Independence. ...
Observers see this amendment as a ruse to cancel the two-term limit. They predict the introduction of a new law that would allow Bouteflika to run for a third time.
Notes - ^ See link to official bio in references section.
- ^ El Moudjahid newspaper, 09th of August 1983
- ^ Post about the speech at Souss.com (in French) (automated translation by Yahoo!)
- ^ news24.com (author is "(SA)"), date is December 18, 2005
- ^ middle-east-online.com, no author, date 2005-12-15
- ^ Algeria leader in French hospital, BBC, 20 April 2006
- ^ iol.co.za, by Hassane Meftahi, May 26 2006; and liberation.fr (in French)
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