Refusal to extend Gojil’s term in the National Assembly – New Algeria

The Constitutional Court rejected an additional extension of the term of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Saleh Gogel, and a number of representatives, which is supposed to end at the end of next February, while President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has not yet summoned the electoral college for the midterm elections scheduled for the beginning of the same month, and analysts linked this The move is based on a desire to postpone these elections until after the municipal elections that are likely to be held after the approval of the draft municipal and state laws.

The Constitutional Court issued a strict decision in accordance with the provisions of Article 122, in which it confirmed that the term of office of a member of the National Assembly was limited to six years, and that no one can exercise more than two parliamentary terms separate in time or consecutively.

As stated in the decision, the provisions of this article apply to current members, as well as to former members who held more than one term before the issuance of the current constitution (2020), which means that it includes Speaker of the National Assembly Gogel. The Constitutional Court communicated its latest decision to the President of the Republic, the President of the National Assembly, the President of the National People’s Assembly, and the Prime Minister, so that it becomes effective.

The Constitutional Court’s response came to a notice submitted by the Speaker of the National Assembly for the purpose of interpreting a constitutional provision, and broadcasting his position and the position of a third of the members of the National Assembly whose parliamentary term in the upper chamber expires at the end of February. The court relied on the preamble of the Constitution, which states that the Constitution is above all and is the basic law that guarantees Individual and collective rights and freedoms, protects the principle of freedom of choice of the people, gives legitimacy to the exercise of powers, and enshrines the principle of democratic deliberation through free and fair periodic elections, as the spirit of the constitutional text enshrines the principle of democratic deliberation, and from this standpoint it was determined The mandate of the President of the Republic is specified in Article 88 of the Constitution, and the mandate of the Member of Parliament is specified in Article 122.

The Constitutional Court also stressed the necessity of implementing the provisions of the 2020 Constitution, which was drawn up in the context of a popular movement that demanded the establishment of the principle of rotation of power through the renewal of the political class. This is considered an embodiment of representative democracy, which was achieved through the text of Article 122, which states: “The mandate of the National Assembly is limited to a period of six years. The composition of the National Assembly is renewed by half every three years, and the term of Parliament cannot be extended except in very serious circumstances that do not allow for regular elections to be held, and no one can exercise more than Two separate or consecutive parliamentary terms“.

It was expected that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune would be summoned before the end of December to the midterm elections for the National Assembly, as the electoral law stipulates that the summons should be made by presidential decree 45 days before the poll date.

It was read that the country’s first judge did not summon the Electoral College to decide to delay these elections until after possible preliminary local elections in the spring of next year, which would allow the renewal of the entire municipal and state councils on the basis of the new municipal and state law that was completed last week..

Fouad Q