The strange case of Algeria and the remarkable reshuffle

On May 14, news abruptly emerged from El-Mouradiyya, the presidential palace in Algiers, of a reshuffle of the Algerian government by President Bouteflika. 

The selection of a governmental team in Algeria is, incidentally, part of the president's prerogative - but there had been no warning that this was about to happen, and it took some time before the official news agency, Algerie Presse Service, was able to publish the presidential decree containing the changes.

The detailed changes

Not surprisingly, the prime minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, who has long been a presidential stalwart, kept his post, as did many other familiar ministerial faces.

The deputy defence minister and chief-of-staff of the Algerian army, Ahmed Gaid Salah, is still there, for instance.

The ministers retained in office also included the justice minister, Tayeb Louh, and the industry minister, Abdessalam Bouchouareb. Some were also pushed sideways, including Amar Ghoul, the embattled minister of public works who is now tourism minister. 

Ghoul probably stayed in the cabinet, despite the allegations of corruption made against him, because he enjoys the president's favour. He was replaced by Abdelkader Ouali.

There were, however, some notable changes. Youssef Yousfi, the energy minister and former Sonatrach official, was replaced by another Sonatrach professional and adviser to the Algerian Petroleum Institute, Salah Khebri. 

Yousfi had failed to quieten noisy protests in the Algerian Sahara over the government's plans to begin a major fracking programme despite public disquiet over the potential loss of water for local agriculture and frustration over employment in the south. 

He had also failed to revive the conventional gas sector - a major foreign currency earner, but where production is in steep decline - or to stimulate foreign investment in Algeria's ailing energy sector.

Austerity measures

There was a change of finance minister too, with Abderrahmane Benkhelfa, a former banker, taking up the post. He is known to disapprove of the country's currency exchange rate, which he considers overvalued. He also wishes to eliminate the parallel market in foreign currencies. 

[The new finance minister] will probably also be charged with introducing an 'austerity' programme.

More importantly, given the official concern about Algeria's declining oil revenues and reserves, he will probably also be charged with introducing an "austerity" programme.

There is a new interior minister, Nouredine Bedoui, as well, together with a new minister of transport, Boudjema Talai. 

And, not surprisingly, the minister of culture, Leila Labidi, has gone - after she was recently accused of corruption by the outspoken Parti des Travailleurs leader, Louisa Hanoune. 

It will be interesting to see whether she continues with the libel action she threatened against Hanoune.

And, perhaps, there are more movements to come.

Pushing back

Some ministerial changes, however, were not quite what they appeared to be.

Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra appeared to have retained his post, as did the minister for Maghrib, Arab and African Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel. 

Well, not quite, for Lamamra seemed to have lost part of his portfolio - as responsibility for "international cooperation" was handed to Messahel, even though, traditionally, it has been part of the foreign affairs portfolio.

The reduction in Lamamra's responsibilities was rather surprising, for he had been extremely successful in reviving Algeria's international image. 

He had previously been a professional diplomat, serving as Algeria's ambassador in Portugal and at the United Nations in New York, and this experience - which his ministerial predecessors had lacked - must have been a major factor in his success, despite the recent shadow cast over it by the collapse of an Algerian-mediated peace plan in Mali between the rebellious Touareg demanding autonomy for Azawad and the government in Bamako. 

Diplomatic observers... clearly thought that [Lamara] had been treated rather shabbily.

Many professional diplomatic observers in Algeria and elsewhere clearly thought that he had been treated rather shabbily and seem to have made their feelings plain.

The president seems to have thought so too for, four days after the new government had been announced, Lamamra was suddenly rewarded with the return of his full portfolio.

Now he is once again minister-of-state, of foreign affairs and of international cooperation. The sudden reversal in his fortunes has inevitably led to fevered speculation in Algiers about what had been happening behind the scenes during the four days in question.

Rival powers

It appears that Lamamra's success had excited jealousy in the circles around the presidency, and that Messahel, who is well-considered by the presidential clan, had demanded an expanded ministerial role. 

Lamamra, however, does not seem to have taken his demotion lying down and, given his popularity in Algerian diplomatic circles, he could insist that his full portfolio be restored.

Nonetheless, the president's reaction in doing so is most surprising and, for many in Algiers, quite out of character - for he never goes back on an action once carried out. 

That, in turn, has led to speculation as to who, in reality, made the decisions over the new government that the president subsequently had to reverse and to how the policy process is actually articulated inside the presidential palace. 

Suspicions have inevitably been directed against the president's younger brother, Said, who is believed to have presidential ambitions of his own and to have taken advantage of his brother's stroke in April 2013 to become the power behind the presidential throne.  

Yet the sudden revival in Lamamra's fortunes suggests that, despite being confined to a wheelchair, perhaps the president has not been as incapacitated as many observers have claimed, as he can still challenge those who seek to usurp his prerogatives. 

If that is the case, the radical changes that many seek in Algeria may yet be long-delayed.