On February 10, 2019 a press release signed by the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he would run for a fifth consecutive term. Many Algerians were upset. On February 22, protests began in many cities. Why?
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (*1937) made his last public speech on May 8, 2012. Back then, he said that his generation had done its job and that it was up to a new generation to continue. But nothing in that direction ever happened. In 2013, he suffered a debilitating stroke. He obviously is incapable to govern Algeria. Why is it difficult to replace him?
Abdelaziz Bouteflika fought for Algeria’s independence from France. He served as minister of Foreign Affairs from 1963 until 1979. He was elected president in 1999 and helped end the civil war which, between 1991 and 2002, cost the lifes of some 150,000 people. He brought peace back to Algeria.
However, now there is a young, rightly impatient generation. 45% of all Algerians are younger than 25. They have only known the reign of Bouteflika and not witnessed the bloody civil war.
After separating from France, Algeria initially pursued socialist economic policies. In the 1990s, the leaders introduced some market reforms. Under Bouteflika, many state-owned companies were privatized. However, Algeria still largely depends on its state-owned oil and gas companies. Oil and gas represent 95% of all Algerian exports and 60% of all state income. There is almost no tourism. The regime is totally corrupt: the oil and gas sector, politicians, police, customs, etc. The TV stations are state-controlled. In fact, the TV stations did not show the 2019 protests. One TV station editor-in-chief resigned because of this.
Unlike the times of the civil war, when the Islamists were about to rise to power in free elections and then prevented from doing so, in 2019, the Islamists are no major factor. The unrest were largely internet organized. Especially the young, students, people with no job, intellectuals and others are unhappy with the regime which, in their eyes, has no credibility and no legitimacy.
The Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika concentrated more power in his position than any other president since the country’s independence. He has no been ailing since 2013, but the regime has been unable to find someone to replace him. The regime, that’s not only his brothers, but also many politicans, civil servants, many businessmen, etc.; Kader Abderrahim, the Maghreb specialist at the Sorbonne university in Paris, compared the present situation in Algeria to the one at the end of the Yeltsin years in Russia with the rise of the oligarchs.
The current corrupt regime has not found a leader to replace the president. That’s why they sent President Kader Abderrahim to run for a fifth consecutive term.
The current protests do not seem to endanger the regime right now because the revolt in Algeria has no leader. The protesters also have no program and no weapons. All they can agree on is to prevent President Kader Abderrahim from running for a fifth consecutive term. That’s why the regime has (so far) not shown a hard hand against the protesters. Are things under control? The people in power are largely facing a new generation who is fed up with the current regime. Discontent is widespread. Could the protests turn violent, get out of control? Could there be a crack down? Affaire à suivre, as they say in French.
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The Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2012. Photograph by Magharebia / Wikimedia Commons.
Article added on March 2, 2019 at 23:05 Paris time.
