Bouteflika Rules

The announcement by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the July 4 Independence Day that there will a be a referendum on a new constitution by the end of the year has been long expected. Adopted in 1996 at a time of civil war, the current constitution limits the presidential mandate to two five year terms as well as placing various checks and balances within the bicameral legislative system to guard against domination by an Islamist-oriented party. President Bouteflika, like other political actors, has often expressed his dislike of the document, complaining that it 'was born within context of a suffocating crisis which nearly destroyed the foundations of the republic'.

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