Algerians vote on constitution amid cynicism

Bloomberg

Polls opened in Algeria for a referendum on amendments to the constitution that authorities say will address the causes of long-running unrest in the state.
Voting took place nationwide from 8 am to 8 pm on Sunday, with results due on Monday. Unfortunately for a government craving stability, many of the millions who joined mass protests since early 2019 in the North African country have shown few signs of supporting the plebiscite.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune insists the constitutional changes address grievances which forced
out longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika and kept demonstrations simmering through curbs to contain the coronavirus.
Tebboune’s proposed more transparent elections and management of public funds, greater minority rights and limiting the president to two five-year terms. Yet to observers like Abed Charef, a prominent political commentator and founder of El Khabar newspaper, the changes are aimed “more to the internal needs of the
ruling class than to the demands of the protesters.”
Authorities want the plebiscite to “burnish the legitimacy of local and parliamentary elections Tebboune plans to hold,” Charef said in an email. How protesters react to the vote will be
decisive, he said.
Tebboune travelled to Germany on October 28 for treatment for an unidentified medical condition after aides tested positive for Covid-19.
Other amendments that extend the president’s executive reach, strip the prime minister of some oversight of the economy, and hint at a bigger role for the army, point to more power for Tebboune and the military that backs his ruling party.
Unrest surged in Algeria as Bouteflika bid for a fifth term as president before eventually stepping down in April 2019.