Algerian lawmakers pass reforms

ALGIERS: Algerian lawmakers passed constitutional reforms on Sunday proposed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after the 2011 "Arab Spring" uprisings, including reinstating a two-term limit for the presidency and boosting parliamentary powers.

Government officials said the amendments fulfilled Bouteflika’s promises to strengthen democracy, but opposition leaders dismissed them as superficial tweaks to a system long dominated by the ruling FLN party and the military.

The FLN along with the RND and other pro-government parties hold a majority in both chambers of the parliament and 499 out of 517 lawmakers present voted in favour, with 16 abstaining. Several opposition parties boycotted the vote.

"The reforms we have started allow us to move to a new political and constitutional phase, based on democratic principles," Bouteflika said in a statement read by the senate chief on his behalf.

The constitutional reforms were approved at a delicate time for the North African Opec member, whose government is facing a sharp slide in oil prices that has slashed its revenues and forced it to trim spending.

The amendments limit presidents to two terms in office, reversing a reform Bouteflika’s government introduced in 2008, allowing him to be re-elected in 2009.