Sources say he still influences policy supported by younger brother Saïd Bouteflika who has run the presidential office while also protecting the family's business interests – supported by recently re-elected president of the employers' organisation (Forum des Chefs d'Entreprise) Ali Haddad – and cultivating a network of political and security allies...
Bouteflika's shadow still looms large with policy decrees appointments and political manoeuvring emerging in his name from his medicalised suite in the Zeralda presidential palace courtesy of presidential brother Saïd Bouteflika and a phalanx of loyalists led by Vice-Minister of Defence and Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaïd Salah and Security Services Coordinator Major General Athmane 'Bachir' Tartag...
Construction magnate Ali Haddad a business friend of Saïd Bouteflika's is likely to remain head of the flagship of Algerian crony capitalism the Forum des Chefs d'Entreprise (FCE) despite claims this summer that even his head might roll as the El Bouchi cocaine smuggling scandal highlighted wider abuses of governance (AC Vol 59 No 14 Dead in the water)...
Sources close to the presidency told Africa Confidential that Saïd Bouteflika may have serious health problems of his own...
One wilder version suggests Bouteflika's supposed death has been kept a secret by widely-distrusted presidential brother Saïd Bouteflika and a small coterie of close allies who are working out how the Bouteflika clan can avoid losing power to rival factions before revealing it...
Sources in Algiers say all this followed a period of increased speculation about the president's health and Saïd Bouteflika's manoeuvrings...
Their loyalty – so far – has allowed the 'presidential clan' to maintain its dominance giving huge influence to the President's brother Saïd Bouteflika and his close allies such as Ali Haddad (AC Vol 58 No 17 The state stays captured)...
Many of these moguls are close to Saïd Bouteflika; the few who have taken a more confrontational approach – notably self-made billionaire Issad Rebrab – have had problems with the authorities...
The army the guardian of Algeria's 'republican' traditions remains resistant to another move to promote Saïd Bouteflika (AC Vol 57 No 13 Political plots in a slow month)...
Tebboune was surprisingly appointed in May and he quickly challenged the presidency's business-as-usual approach with an anti-graft campaign taking on 'oligarchs' close to presidential brother Saïd Bouteflika...
Anti-Tebboune leakers pounced on presidential disapproval of the premier's unsanctioned vacation while media close to Saïd Bouteflika's favourite businessman Forum des Chefs d'Entreprise (FCE) chief Ali Haddad suggested the Philippe meeting was intended to garner support for a presidential bid by Tebboune in 2019 – when some loyalists believe the octogenarian president could stand again...
Few doubt the 'presidential clan' is dominant at present driven by Saïd Bouteflika and backed by Ouyahia – at least until the new premier's presidential ambitions collide with the interests of the president's younger brother (AC Vol 57 No 13 Political plots in a slow month)...
Alongside him was his powerful younger brother Saïd Bouteflika who was accompanied by his two young sons...
Boom scepticsBooming Algerian businesses tend to be close to Saïd Bouteflika and Haddad...