Bouteflika pledges reforms http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/04/18/feature-01

Addressing calls for regime change that have blossomed since the "Arab Spring" began, Bouteflika declared that "no-one has the right, by whatever means, to rekindle fear among Algerian families, worrying about the safety of their children or property, or more seriously, concern in any nation about Algeria's future, unity, independence and national sovereignty". The announcements made by President Bouteflika provoked a string of reactions, with the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) blasting the speech as "pathetic and dangerous". 

"The reforms announced by the president are just window dressing," the RCD said. "The revision of the constitution will just go through the same motions as the previous ones." The opposition party added that the speech had "the merit of putting an end to any speculation about the potential of any reforms which might arise from within the system".The Citizens' Committee for the Defence of the Republic (CCDR) continued in a similar vein, saying that the presidential "road map" was a "pale series of announcements of political reforms imposed by the current national and international political context". 

The government should "learn the lessons of recent history, and particularly the Arab Spring, to prepare in a dignified way to leave by the front door and spare the Algerian people unnecessary suffering", the CCDR statement continued. The speech "does not meet the people's expectations, either in form or in substance", former Prime Minister Ahmed Benbitour said. "We were expecting a more serious speech to the nation. What we got was a recorded speech, poorly thought-out by those who wrote it," Benbitour said. "We were expecting a change, but we were given the same old tasks entrusted to institutions which have proved they are incapable of doing anything new."