Over the past three months, demands for far-reaching political and economic reforms have brought hundreds of thousands of Algerians to the streets across the country.
Algeria did not experience any of the public demonstrations that swept many parts of the Arab world during the so-called “Arab Spring” in 2011. The situation changed in mid-February, when 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he would seek a fifth term, leading to mass agitation in the streets.
The president took office in 1999, but suffered a stroke in 2013 that left him nearly incapacitated. Since then, the country has been controlled by a shadowy cabal of family members, military personnel, security personnel and businessmen led by his brother Said Bouteflika. Bouteflika resigned on April 2, following public pressure and the steady erosion of his support base.
But the president’s resignation did little to stem the wave of protests. Algerians demand the removal of all bastions of the old order, which for decades has been synonymous with cronyism and corruption, and the emergence of a new generation of clean leaders.
Economic stagnation is a major cause of public anger. Approximately three-quarters of the country is under the age of 30, and the unemployment rate for this group is over 25%. The country is supported by a large hydrocarbon sector, which has created a crony capitalist economy that has enriched the president’s family and associates. The economic scenario has become even more challenging as oil prices have fallen over the past four years.
The country’s leaders seemed generally ignorant in the face of this people’s demand for constant change. After the president resigned, Abdelkader Bensala, 77, the president of the upper house of Algeria’s parliament, became interim head of state, and elections were held on July 4. However, because Mr. Bensala was a long-time close ally of Mr. Bouteflika, he and all his associates, especially Mr. Bensala, Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, and President of the Constitutional Court Tayeb Berais, who would become president if Mr. Bensala resigns, There are growing calls for “3B” to step down.
Against this backdrop, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, the country’s army commander, has assumed a central position in the rapidly unfolding situation. In late March, after initially warning of anarchy and civil war, the general changed his tone and praised the demonstrators’ “noble aims and pure intentions.” He subsequently succeeded in calling for the president’s resignation, although the majority of Algerian soldiers are probably conscripted from across the country, have considerable affinity with the agitators, and are reluctant to use force to quell the demonstrations. He must have sensed the possibility that this was the case.
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The general also tried to placate protesters by publicly criticizing the former president’s associates as a “group of thieves.” In late April, 12 of Algeria’s top businessmen were arrested, the president of state oil company Sonatrach was fired, and former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and current Finance Minister Mohamed Loukar were detained.
The country’s leaders seemed generally ignorant in the face of this people’s demand for constant change – Talmiz Ahmad
The purge was completed in early May with the arrest of Said Bouteflika and former intelligence chiefs Bashir Tartag and Mohamed Medien on charges of “undermining military authority and conspiracy against state power.” Medien is famous as the “Butcher of Algiers”. He served as intelligence chief from 1990 until his ouster by Bouteflika in 2015, and played a key role against Islamists in the 1990s civil war that killed more than 100,000 people.
These arrests of former regime officials strengthen the power of military commanders and confirm that leading the country to elections is their priority. These will obviously take place within the framework of the existing political order, ignoring demands for fundamental changes from the Algerian streets.
Thus, Algeria now has new orders and an army commander who believes that the military will play a central role in shaping national politics, as it has since independence in 1962. General Salah continues to press ahead with the July 4 election, although the demonstrations show no signs of slowing in their enthusiasm.
The general faces a real dilemma. Should he insist on the supreme position of the military in the national order, or should he accept the true spirit of the constitutional provision that sovereignty lies in the will of the people? In short, is he likely to reinstate authoritarian rule, or is he likely to accept the need for a democratic order in Algeria, an unusual initiative unprecedented in the region?
The three-month-long agitation in Algeria showed the people’s extraordinary stamina, enthusiasm and dedication, without violence, petty sectarianism, diverse ideological or political interests, or expression of regional differences. . Women have also played an important role in promoting popular street power.
These factors should prompt General Salah to embrace the logic of a democratic order on behalf of his beleaguered people.
Talmiz Ahmad is a writer and former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and UAE. He is the Ram Sathe Professor of International Studies at Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.
this article It was first published arab news.
