Mohamed Meziane: Sonatrach boss under investigation.
Sonatrach probe 'all about politics'
A corruption investigation into Algeria's state energy company is a warning signal from some in the state apparatus who believe part of the ruling elite has captured too much power, a former prime minister said.
The chief executive of Sonatrach, which supplies about 20% of Europe's gas needs, is under investigation along with several of the company's senior management, in the biggest corruption case in Algeria for years.
Ahmed Benbitour, who was prime minister under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika until 2000 and also served as finance minister, told Reuters in an interview today the Sonatrach case was part of a behind-the-scenes political struggle.
The Sonatrach affair is a "warning to those who want to capture the state", Benbitour said.
He said a section of the ruling elite and interest groups associated with it had entrenched their control over the North African oil and gas exporter in the past few years.
A decision in 2008 by parliament to amend the constitution, allowing Bouteflika, 72, to run for a third term in office was "one of the indicators of this process," he said.
"It was completely natural that other elements or other institutions said to themselves: 'Where are we going to go? Can we continue letting this go on?'," Benbitour said.
"We have already seen a similar scenario in Russia," Benbitour said, referring to the campaign by former Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the influence of powerful tycoons who were close to his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.
Benbitour resigned as prime minister and has since campaigned against Bouteflika.
He said he was now working on a grassroots Internet strategy to encourage debate about an alternative to the ruling system.
Bouteflika has said he has always respected the constitution and democratic principles and has denied accumulating too much power.
Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said last week the Sonatrach investigation was initiated by Bouteflika himself.
Sonatrach is Algeria's biggest tax-payer and accounts for nearly all of the country's foreign earnings.
Sonatrach chief executive Mohamed Meziane and the other executives under investigation have not commented on the corruption allegations.
Benbitour said the people in power in Algeria - many of whom fought in the 1954-1962 war for independence from France - needed to step aside for a younger generation.
"It has been 55 years that we are engaged in a revolution and by now we should have built a nation state with certain characteristics. We are not at that point so it is time to go back to the drawing board," he said.
Algeria is emerging from more than a decade of conflict between government forces and Islamist insurgents and many people credit Bouteflika with reducing the violence.
Benbitour said many of Bouteflika's senior officials are in their 60s and 70s but the country's rulers had failed to encourage new blood.
"The regime is doing nothing towards that. We are not in the process of ensuring a new generation. It does not exist."
He was also critical about a series of government measures to reduce imports and tighten restrictions on foreign investments.
He said hardliners in the government were using the global economic downturn as a pretext to back-track on reforms.
"It's like giving aspirin to someone who has cancer," said Benbitour. "You want to protect the economy? You do not do that by forbidding imports, it's by producing."