Any negotiated transfer of power is likely to favour a safe regime candidate such as Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal or Minister of State and President's Office Director Ahmed Ouyahia...
The chattering classes will keep close watch on the manoeuvrings of the leader of the Rassemblement national démocratique Ahmed Ouyahia (still the president's chef de cabinet); his replacement as Premier Sellal; ambitious ministers such as Abdeslam Bouchouareb at Industry and Mines; and prominent players in the small political-business elite notably Haddad the head of the business federation the Forum des chefs d'entreprises and an ally of Saïd...
Even long-standing presidential aspirants such as Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and former Premier Ahmed Ouyahia now head of Bouteflika's private office are looking nervously over their shoulders as the après-Boutef gets closer say Algiers analysts...
The local press will continue to recycle talk of constitutional revisions – including the appointment of a vice-president – and a possible mid-term retirement that might allow a regime-approved civilian politician to take office such as Presidential Office Director Ahmed Ouyahia Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal reformist ex-Premier Mouloud Hamrouche or regular presidential candidate Ali Benflis...
Younger establishment politicians such as Sellal and former Premier Ahmed Ouyahia are fighting for position...
The RND has parted from its long-time leader Ahmed Ouyahia a former two-term Premier who is desperately trying to revive his political fortunes...
Nor is former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia the darling of the people but he is likely to use his Rassemblement national démocratique – the second party of government – as his launch pad for a presidential bid...
The next biggest winner was Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia’s Rassemblement national démocratique (RND) with 70 seats...
The bigger presidential parties the Front de liberation nationale (FLN) and Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia's Rassemblement national démocratique (RND) have more muscle in a political system where few believe major change is coming yet...
The APN – dominated by the Alliance présidentielle of the FLN Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia’s RND and the ‘moderate Islamist’ Mouvement de la Société pour la Paix (MSP) – will probably rush them through albeit with amendments to exclude the most unpalatable changes...