Algeria to vote on new constitution on November 1

The new constitution would give the prime minister and parliament more powers to govern the country

A man wearing a protective mask holds an Algerian flag during a demonstration. AFP

Algeria has set November 1 as a date for a referendum on a new constitution aimed at boosting democracy and giving parliament a greater role, the presidency said on Monday, after months-long protests demanding reforms.
Elected last December, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has repeatedly pledged to introduce political and economic reforms and to meet demands raised in demonstrations that toppled veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019.
The new constitution would give the prime minister and parliament more powers to govern the North African country of 45 million people, a draft released earlier this year showed.

The referendum date was announced after Mr Tebboune’s meeting with the head of the election authority Mohamed Chorfi earlier on Monday, the presidency said in a statement.

After "consultations with the parties concerned, it was decided to set the date of 1 November 2020 for the holding of the referendum on the draft revision of the Constitution", the presidency said.

That date also marks the anniversary of the start of Algeria's 1954-1962 war for independence from France.

Last year's demonstrations only petered amid the social distancing necessitated by the coronavirus early this year.

Mr Tebboune, formerly a prime minister under Bouteflika, has since taking office sought a constitutional referendum, ostensibly as an answer to the popular protest movement.

He has said a new constitution would reduce the authority of the president and "guarantee the separation and balance of powers".

Demonstrators however rejected his call for dialogue, insisting on demands for deeper reforms in the North African country.

The country's constitution has been amended several times since independence from France, and during the two-decade Bouteflika era it had been tailored for the deposed leader's requirements.

Meanwhile, an Algerian journalist was sentenced Monday to two years in prison, his lawyer said, in the latest trial of media and pro-democracy figures in the North African country after the protests began.

Abdelkrim Zeghileche, head of a web-based independent radio station, Radio-Sarbacane, had been accused of posting on Facebook calls to create a new political party, his lawyer Djamel Aissiouane said.

The main charges against him were "endangering national unity" and "insulting the head of state", according to Mr Aissiouane.

Mr Zeghileche has been in detention since June 24.