On Sunday, March 3, 2019 the ailing Algerian President Bouteflika officially deposed his candidacy for a fifth term. The Algerian Constitution clearly stipulates that the candidate has to do this in person. However, Bouteflika is in Geneva (Switzerland) for a medical check-up. Therefore, other people submitted for him the 60,000 signatures legally required to run for office. Therefore, the Constitutional Court could invalid his candidacy.
Anyway, the regime in place has been unable to come forward with a new, fresh candidate to replace Bouteflika who, since a 2013 stroke, is visibly is unable to perform his duties as president. Unfortunately, the protesters have no leader themselves.
Officially, the country’s name is République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire. The last days have shown that the clan in charge does not act in democratic way. The majority of the 42 million Algerians are fed up with a totally corrupt regime without popular support that makes a mockery out of the Algerian Republic.
Bouteflika’s official candidacy may spark more protests even though a statement by the current president made clear that, in the case of a win in the presidential election scheduled for April 18, 2019 he would step down before the end of his mandate and call early elections.
According to specialists of Algerian politics, the field of 8 candidates for presidency does not offer a single, credible candidate who could challenge Bouteflika. In a sign of protest, Bouteflika’s former prime minister, Ali Benflis, withdrew his candidacy. He was the biggest threat to the current regime, although he himself was not very popular either.
As at the end of Yeltsin’s regime in Russia, the power has become opaque in Algeria. The regime has been unable to produce a Putin. The parliamentary opposition is discredited, weak and/or not appreciated. Will the protesters be able to produce a leader? They have no candidate in the April 18 presidential election. They could not prevent Bouteflika from running for office. The only solution for them is to postpone the presidential election, to organize themselves, to come forward with a leader and a program. Will the Constitutional Court and/or the regime accept this? Will the Bouteflika clan try to hold on to power at any cost? Bouteflika’s official candidacy will spark more protests, that’s for sure.
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The Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2012. Photograph by Magharebia / Wikimedia Commons.
Article added on March 4, 2019 at 12:15 Paris time.
Added on March 4, 2019 at 14:04 Paris time: The regime is trying to buy time. Bouteflika should step down maybe after one year into his fifth term, call early presidentiall elections in which a new candidate of the regime would run. They should know that the protesters are not ready for such a shady deal. It is a long time until the April 18, 2019 presidential elections. Can the regime withstand one month and a half of more, most likely angrier protests?
