The Oversight Role of Parliament in Light of the 2020 Constitutional Amendment

Abstract

Parliamentary oversight, in its concept, objectives, and constitutional foundation, represents a fundamental component of the state’s broader oversight framework. It constitutes a central prerogative of the parliament, exercised through various control mechanisms, whether or not they entail political accountability, granted to it with respect to the government’s activities. These mechanisms serve as a safeguard for the consolidation of democracy, given that the parliament embodies the will of the people. Accordingly, the activation of parliamentary oversight became a central demand among both popular movements and political actors, a demand that culminated in the constitutional amendment introduced by the 2020 revision. This amendment emerged as an inevitable response to recent developments in Algeria, wherein the constitutional legislator sought to rectify systemic imbalances and reestablish equilibrium among the branches of power, particularly by reaffirming the parliament’s role, with special emphasis on its supervisory authority over government operations. One of the most significant innovations introduced was the formal inclusion of interpellation among the mechanisms that invoke the government’s political responsibility. Despite these advancements, however, several deficiencies persist in the domain of parliamentary oversight, deficiencies that had been anticipated to be resolved by the revised constitutional text.