The death of Mohammed Cherif Messaadia, a member of the one party system prior to the adoption of political pluralism in Algeria in 1989 and President of Algeria's senate, was officially announced in Algiers on Saturday.
He died at the American hospital in Paris at the age of 78, where he was undergoing treatment for a long illness, KUNA reported.
The Algerian constitution considers the Senate’s President to be the state's second man after the president.
Messaadia, who is a close aide and friend of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika played an important role in helping the latter win the presidential elections in 1999.
Bouteflika appointed Messaadia, who spent his entire political life in the national liberation front (FLN) party, as Senator in January 2001, and served as head of the upper house of parliament in April that year.
However, Messaadia could not live the moments of FLN's political victory last week, where his party won an overwhelming majority in the parliamentary elections in Algeria. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
