Ten months after taking office, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia faces an unprecedented attack, led by the National Liberation Front (FLN), President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's party. But one of his confidants said: "They want his head because he is clean and not involved in corruption scandals, unlike other officials."
Ouyahia rivals see him as a provocation for the Algerians and his return to the premiership irked the majority of Algerians after they realized they would pay the price of the financial crisis, in reference to significant increases in the fees for biometric documents, such as passports, identity cards and driving licenses.
In the supplementary budget bill of 2018, Ouyahi also suggested doubling telephone charges. In addition, Algerians recall a bad incident involving Ouyahi, which dates back to 1998, when a certain percentage of wages were deducted from workers without their consent and paid to the unemployed who were laid off by a severe economic crisis. Back then, he was prime minister.
The media described these latest measures as a "declaration of war against the Algerians" who were fed by rising prices for all foodstuffs as a result of higher inflation caused by the printing of more banknotes, a decision taken last fall under the pretext that the government was short on money to pay the salaries of millions of workers and employees in government sectors.
President Bouteflika intervened in a meeting of the cabinet last Tuesday, canceling all these raises, leaving a strong impression that he was not satisfied with the actions taken by Ouyahia. Also, tghe PM's party «Liberation Front» criticized these procedures, with Secretary General Gamal Ould Abbas saying that Ouyahi was seeking to succeed Bouteflika in power, a "big sin" in the eyes of the president's loyalists.
Furthermore, the National Organization of Moudjahidine joined the campaign against the prime minister, knowing that it has a political and historic symbolism. It highly criticized him because he called on the businessmen to cooperate with the French who were born in Algeria and left it during the first days of independence.
