Government of OPEC-member Algeria resigns

Algiers, June 2: The Algerian government resigned today, a traditional move following parliamentary elections, but most ministers will stay in a caretaker capacity pending the announcement of a new cabinet, the president's office said.

The office of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said in a statement carried on the official APS news agency that Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem had submitted his government's resignation to Bouteflika and it had been accepted.

''The president of the republic accepted the resignation and asked the head of the government and the members of the government to look after daily affairs,'' the statement said.

Algeria's ruling coalition, led by Belkhadem's National Liberation Front (FLN), won a reduced majority on a low turnout in May 17 polls for the lower house of parliament.

A new cabinet is expected to be named in the coming days.

Belkhadem, 61, is expected to be reappointed but there may be changes with other ministerial positions, political observers have said.

The presidency is the most powerful office of state with the premier playing the role of coordinator between the executive and the legislative. Many in the north African country regard parliament as a weak institution dominated by the presidency.

The holder of the key Energy and Mines portfolio, Chakib Khelil, who is not a member of parliament, is among the ministers who will stay on in a caretaker capacity ahead of the announcement of the new cabinet.

The ministers who are not allowed an interim capacity are those who were elected to the assembly. In the Algerian system government ministers, even those merely acting in an interim capacity, cannot also be parliamentarians at the same time.

The vote was the third assembly election since an Islamist revolt erupted after the cancellation of polls in 1992 which a now-outlawed Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win. Up to 200,000 people have been killed in violence since then.

A loyalist of Boutflika, Belkhadem has proposed extending the length of the presidential mandate from five to seven years and abrogating a two-term limit.

The new cabinet is expected to be appointed by Bouteflika on or about June 10, political observers have said.

Reuters>