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Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has announced that he has waived his own right to appoint senior state positions. That right, he confirmed, has been entrusted to Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad. Tebboune made the announcement after a cabinet meeting on Saturday.
“The aim is to ease the procedures for appointing candidates to high state positions,” said the President, “and speeding up the movement of senior government employees by transferring the authority to appoint a certain number of state posts to the Prime Minister.” The exact nature of the positions entrusted to the Prime Minister to handle was not specified.
Following the constitutional amendment passed under former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2016, the position of Prime Minister was transformed into one of “First Minister” charged with coordinating the work of the government with limited powers to appoint officials. According to this amendment, the president was at the centre of executive branch powers, enjoying exclusive jurisdictions to appoint candidates for senior civil and military positions.
After winning the election last month, Tebboune announced his intention to suggest a further constitutional amendment that would reduce the president’s powers in favour of the Prime Minister and parliament. He has thus appointed a committee of experts to prepare a new constitution by March, on which Algerians will vote in a popular referendum.