Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has appointed Abdelkader Bensalah, speaker of the Nation Council (Senate), to conduct consultations with political parties and national figures, the official news agency APS reported Monday.
"As part of the path of political reforms he explained today, President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has appointed Abdelkader Bensalah to conduct consultations with political parties and national figures," APS quoted a statement by the Presidency as saying.
Bensalah has a long experience and deep knowledge of national politics, it added, Xinhua reported.
Bouteflika said in a televised speech last month that the country will carry out a legislative reform that includes the revision of the Constitution and the election law.
Algeria will launch political reforms after it has sustained peace and security, issued a development program and ended the state of emergency, he added.
Algeria's major political parties, social organizations and politicians expressed on several occasions their desire to make comprehensive and profound political reforms. However, their views differ in regards of the specific measures of the reform.
In recent weeks, Algeria's key political figures have made statements on reforms and policy changes in this North African country in the context of a series of social protests in Algeria and political upheavals in the Arab world.