MOSCOW, April 19, /ITAR-TASS/. The recent presidential election in Algeria hhas demonstrated stability of the country’s political system, and the victory of current head of the country Abdelaziz Bouteflika has guaranteed the mutually advantageous relations with Russia will continue, Russia’s presidential envoy on cooperation with African countries and a head of the Federation Council’s international Committee Mikhail Margelov told reporters on Saturday.
“The presidential election in Algeria has demonstrated the stable current political system in that country, and the biggest input in support of that stability is made by the policies of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has won the fourth term,” the Russian senator said. “To a big extent Algeria managed to avoid consequences from the “Arab Spring”, which destabilised its Arab neighbours and the region to the south from Sahara and the Middle East.”
“The civil war of 1992-1999 has taught Algeria’s leaders how to fight extremism using self-defence forces, and the society learned not to accept political crises, which only recently claimed 200,000 lives.”
“Besides, unlike in the neighbouring countries, in Algeria during the civil war the Islamists’ losses were colossal, and in the period of the “Arab Spring” they were still unable to act,” Margelov said.
He expressed confidence Bouteflika’s victory guarantees continuation of the mutually advantageous trade, economic and inter-state relations between Algeria and Russia, adding Russia’s independent policy “has been gaining growing respect in Northern Africa and in the Middle East.”
“The historic memory has a positive impact on the relations between Russia and Algeria - the Soviet Union made a major input in Algeria’s obtaining the independence and was the first country in the world to recognise that independence,” he continued. “Nowadays, the economic relations between our countries are mostly in the energy, and in the military-technical cooperation. Algeria and Russia have exchanged visits at the highest level.”
Algeria’s current president - Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 77 - won the presidential election on Thursday, where he received support from 81.53 percent of the vote.