MPs' resignations insignificant

Abdul Razzaq Mukri Algiers – Hussien Bu Saleh The deputy president of the Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas) party, Abdul Razzaq Mukri, has denied that the organisation is facing an internal political crisis. Mukri however admitted to Arabstoday that three party members had resigned, although he said that it would not affect Hamas. Algerian Islamist MP Amar Ghoul, one of the three, officially resigned from the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned MSP on July 25, ahead of a crucial MSP Shura Council meeting on July 27 where he was scheduled to be questioned about the circulating "rumours" about him founding a new political party called "Everyone's Algeria.” The two other National Bureau members who resigned submitted their resignations along with Ghoul, who was, until the last legislative elections, the minister of public works in the Algerian government. The two members were Mohammed Juma, in charge of economic affairs, and Ahmad Latifi, the head of administrative and financial affairs. The members who left said the resignation was compulsory, because they refused to respond to the Shura Council's decision and participate in the government reshuffle. On the effect of the Ghoul's resignation on the party, Mukri said: "The MSP made Ghoul who he is today, not the other way around, so his departure is not too significant. It's like when Abdul Majid Manasra left the party two years ago." However reports said that Bouguerra Soltani, the head of the MSP, secluded himself in his office and refusing to give press statements after Ghoul resigned. Soltani was abiding by a decision from the movement's national executive office. The rest of the MSP’s leaders were busy preparing for the Shura Council meeting on that day, July 27. The resignations of Ghoul and the two National Council members changed the agenda of the session, which was going to question Ghoul about whether he was actually preparing to launch a new political party. The answer came before the session. When asked what he thought of Ghoul's new party, he said: "It won't have much influence on the MSP...the mother party's influence is far reaching and is very popular, other attempts to create offshoots have failed in the past." The Green Algeria Alliance is an Islamist coalition of political parties, created for the Algerian legislative election in May this year. It consists of the Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas), Islamic Renaissance Movement (Ennahda) and the Movement for National Reform (Islah). The alliance is led by Bouguerra Soltani of Hamas. The first general election in Algeria since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, held earlier this year, saw 42.9 percent of eligible voters participate, although it dashed the hopes of Islamists who wished to replicate the results of neighbouring countries' Islamist parties. The National Liberation Front (FLN), led by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, won 220 out of the 462 seats, while the National Democratic Rally (RND) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia came second 68 seats. Both parties constituted a majority in the new assembly. The Islamists came third with only 66 seats. The frustrating results of the Islamist opposition, compared to that of those in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, were blamed by some on the "lack of unity" amongst Algerian Islamist parties. Ghoul’s resignation statement included allusions to the reasons behind his decision. The reasons included "the movement's avoidance of the principle of participation" in government institutions. Ghoul was referring to the movement's decision to boycott the new government. In doing so, the movement put an end to its 18-year streak of active participation in the government. The MSP’s participation in the government began when the movement's late founder Mahfoud Nahnah decided to participate in 1994, despite the security and political conditions that were plaguing the country at the time. Mukri, the second-in-command at the MSP, said the reason behind the party's boycott of the government was what they perceived as the rigging of the May 10 parliamentary elections. "We are ready to release other members who object to the Shura council's decision to boycott the government, ours is a democratic party that seeks to expose corruption and political manipulation for the good of the country...there is no personal interest to stay in power." On the movement's disappointing performance in the legislative elections, he said: "We now have a new national responsibility after the failure of reforms which was confirmed by the election farce; we have to effectively participate in saving our nation from these dangerous elections that disregard the people's will, erase the concept of citizenship, allow corruption, deplete public finances and boost censorship and instability."