ALGERIA DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING: President Abdul Majid Tebboune of Algeria has adopted draft constitutional reforms in the face of demands from the ‘Hirak’ protest movement, saying the proposals are in line with ‘modern state building’. After being formalised by parliament, they will be put to a referendum on November 1. Alas, Tebboune seems to have underestimated the opposition to his proposals, which the Hirak rubbished as a ‘laboratory constitution’, branding the referendum as ‘treachery’. The problem is simply this: The draft constitution does little to alter the fundamentals of the system of power in Algeria, where the military runs the show behind the scenes. The proposals maintain the status quo. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]
AFP