Bouteflika,... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him...
who is very aware of the aspirations of Algerian youth, responds to opposition claim by taking steps to appease the social front.
By the measures taken at the council of minister before yesterday, President Bouteflika has proved, despite the harsh criticism he has received, he was different from former Egyptian and Tunisian presidents, respectively Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali, who had done nothing to calm the anger of their citizens. Bouteflika is also different from the Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy who responded to his people by fierce repression to maintain power.
The first step taken by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was the lifting of the state of emergency imposed since 1993, in response to demand from organizations of human rights,
... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you...
political parties and trade unions who saw this as a barrier to political liberties.
In addition, new measures to benefit the youth by the cancellation of interest on loans for young people and the ease in obtaining housing, granting of credits by banks, are a message to all the protesters who came out to ask for housing or work.
These measures come after those taken in response to riots against high living costs and rising food prices.
President Bouteflika, by these measures would have given a lesson in democracy to his detractors who are out in the streets to demand his departure, and even Arab leaders, facing the wrath of the street who have responded with repression and force.
Housing distribution before the end of June
President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika has ordered the distribution of housing completed in a fair and transparent manner before the end of June.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has already begun implementing the decisions of the president of the republic. Minister Noureddine Moussa services, according to informed sources, began preparing the texts in this direction and the conditions for social housing in order to facilitate access for youth category.
Completed housing will be distributed before the end of next June from March. Nearly 242,000 homes will be distributed all forms together in 2011, including 19,000 rural homes, 90,000 social homes and 31,000 Promotional homes (LSP).