This article is taken from our Algeria Politics & Security publication.

Since former energy minister Chakib Khelil’s unexpected return to Algeria on 17 March, hardly a day has gone by when news of his rehabilitation, and speculation on why he returned, has not made the headlines.

Increasingly — and with the encouragement of many senior members of the presidential clan, including FLN secretary general Amar Saâdani, and the RND leader and former premier Ahmed Ouyahia — there has been mounting speculation about whether Khelil will succeed Bouteflika.

No member of the Bouteflika clan has actually said that Khelil is their chosen candidate.

Nevertheless, the hype in both the print and broadcast media — especially from government-oriented channels — has been giving the impression that Khelil’s return, along with his rehabilitative tour of the zaouiyas and string of media engagements (see Algeria Politics & Security – 29.04.16), is all part of a plan by the government and especially the presidency to have him take over from Bouteflika.

Louisa Hanoune, the outspoken leader of the Parti des Travailleurs (PT or Workers Party), has acquired a reputation during the last two years for pressing the alarm buttons. So far, she has not set off any false alarms. On the contrary, her observations on what is happening in Algeria, are probably the most prescient among all of the country’s politicians.

What she says about Khelil’s return should therefore be noted. This week she raised two alarm bells. One was that those pushing for Khelil’s redemption — and particularly his sickening tour of the zaouiyas — are playing with fire. She claims that the zaouiyas he has chosen to visit, at the organisation of Minister of Religious Affairs, are small ones that need state funding and grants, which have been forthcoming from the Bouteflika presidency. She is suggesting that religion is being brought into the realm of the state corruption. Khelil is in the zaouiyas, she says, ‘to do politics, not pray.’

This has not gone unnoticed by Algerians. In fact, most are revolted and angered by what they are witnessing. Her warning to Khelil and the authorities is that, if they want to remove all credibility from the zaouiyas and push the country’s youth into extremist religious practices and the arms of those like Islamic State, then this is the best way of doing it.

One piece of good news this week is that one zaouiya stood up and refused to receive Khelil. It was the El Hamlaouia zaouiya in the Mila wilaya. Its sheikh said ‘El Hamlaouia is not involved in politics’. The head of the religious school added: ‘Our zaouiya has a religious vocation and never meddles with politics or political maneuvering.’

Perhaps a more bizarre but serious warning from Hanoune, and one not to be ignored, is that the public jamboree surrounding Khelil’s return is probably actually designed to distract public attention from the government’s plans to siphon off public funds on the back of the economic crisis.

Precisely what Hanoune is implying is unclear, but her suggestion seems to be that Algeria is further into the red than it is admitting.

She makes no specific reference to the recently introduced new financial bond, other than to refer to it as a ‘death trap’. She even questions whether the Treasury is bankrupt – and it is keeping quiet on the matter.

These are frightening questions for Algerians, and ones that they know they have no means of getting honest answers from the government about.