Algeria allow military personnel to be seconded to civilian posts
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday issued a presidential decree allowing the assignment of military personnel from the army who are still in service to fill civilian positions and positions in public administrations or in strategic and sensitive sectors.
This is an unmanageable step in Algeria for serving military personnel, as it was customary to appoint retired military personnel to civilian positions.
The latest issue of the Official Gazette (No. 46) issued on Sunday included a presidential decree signed by Tebboune, specifying the terms and conditions for the assignment of military personnel.
The decree stipulates that contracted military personnel or workers may be seconded to certain positions in public administrations.
“Commanders and senior officers are seconded to occupy some senior positions in the state, within strategic and sensitive sectors in terms of sovereignty and vital interests of the country”.
Allowing military personnel to be seconded to civilian positions is for one year, renewable three times, according to the decree.
The termination of the mandate shall be automatic after the expiry of the period or on the initiative of the Minister of National Defense or the authority responsible for the public civil administration, in coordination with the Minister of Defense during the period of the mandate, or at the request of the military himself.
According to the decree, military personnel are seconded to civilian positions corresponding to their ranks in the army, and remain subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, which oversees the management of their careers.
Military personnel assigned to civilian positions “remain subject to all the basic legal duties governing the status of the military and receive their salaries in accordance with the military system,” according to the decree.
Retired military personnel have previously held civilian positions in Algeria, including the current director general of customs, Major General Abdelhafid Bakhoush, and the current director general of the Algerian International Airport Corporation, Colonel Mediouni Mokhtar.
So is the CEO of the state mobile operator (Mobilis), Shaoki Boukhezani, who was an officer in the National Gendarmerie, a force of the Ministry of Defense.
It’s worth mentioning that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Thursday his intention to run for a second presidential term in elections scheduled for September.
It’s expected that the final list of candidates for the presidential elections will be published on July 27, and the elections will be held on September 7, 2024.
