On June 25, the daily El-Khabar reported: "It becomes evident every day that a series of preventive laws and measures which Bouteflika's group has been rushing to pass and implement are connected with arrangements for a secret project to be completed at the earliest time. Is it connected with succession to Abdelaziz Bouteflika and how would it be carried out? Would it be carried out with early elections after a declaration of the president's chronic disability? The acts of harassment and revenge allude to what is being planned which cannot wait until 2019. In his controversial interview with Algerie Patriotique, Maj-Gen Khaled Nezzar implicitly stated that the chief of general staff and deputy defence minister, Lt-Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah, wished to become president.

"He said: "We are witnessing a new concept which makes a military post synonymous with frequent travel and allusions at all times. We also witness overwhelming avarice for the possession of military equipment at the expense of the national economy. Does not that bear the signs of excessive ambitions?" By ambitions, which was mentioned in his interview with the newspaper and in the course of his criticisms, Khaled Nezzar meant that the ambitious was someone who sought a bigger position than the one he had and allusions at all times refers to the chief of staff's concern to publicise his daily visits to military regions and speeches he delivers when he meets officers.

"Nezzar interprets that kind of behaviour by Salah as outside the duties of a military post and thus he is engaging in politics with a view to getting the top job in the country. However, if it is proven that Salah wishes to become president would that mean that his wish comes with the consent of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who is known for his rejection of any settlement that concerns his fate because of his overwhelming desire to remain in the seat for as long as he is alive? Would Bouteflika agree to stand down before the election date when he has been quoted repeatedly by people loyal to him that whoever wanted the seat had to wait until 2019?

"Has Salah been inspired by the Egyptian experience with former Defence Minister Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi reaching power and believed that the same may be implemented in Algeria under the pretext that the country was facing threats, plots and conspiracies (as he has been saying in various statements) and consequently only a leader of senior officers in the military institution would be good for the country? The possibility of that being the way Salah thinks has not been dismissed by those who know him and quoted him as saying in a private chat when he expressed his wish to take the same course of action: "Why shouldn't I become president?"

"Undoubtedly, the people who made the decisions to harass El-Khabar and El-Watan, impose by law non-divulgence for life on retired military personnel and exclude political parties from taking part in elections in a law that serves the interests of the "big" ruling parties reflect the state of a raging bull that would strike indiscriminately and vengefully at anyone who expresses a stance which is not acceptable to the "group", whether the voice is a newspaper, a TV channel, a retired officer, a parliamentarian or a political party. What is most pressing for the "group" currently is to complete the arrangements for the next stage without any setbacks that may spoil the mysterious project; in other words the group which dominates power does not want the media and people who are concerned with affairs to alert and open the eyes of Algerians about what is happening in the country."