Desperate for change
Algerians have made it abundantly clear that they want a new, inclusive government
MASS protests, initially led by youths, but then embraced by citizens of all ages, classes and ideologies, successfully forced 82-year-old Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to stop his unconstitutional bid for a fifth presidential term.
Elections were supposed to be held on April 18, but have now been postponed. Bouteflika had a stroke in 2013, and can hardly walk or talk. Since his stroke he has rarely been seen in public. His last public address was after the 2014 presidential elections when he gave a victory speech.
His government is run essentially by close allies of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) and the military, which consist mostly of the former armed wing of the party, which fought French colonialism.
The small elite is called
(the power), which includes Bouteflika’s brother, Said, powerful leaders of the army, police and intelligence, including Lieutenant-General Ahmed Gaid Salah, chief of staff of the army, and business tycoons who became fabulously rich because of their political connections through the FLN.
The FLN came to power when Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, after a seven-year war of liberation. The FLN would have lost power in the early 1990s, but it refused to give up power and a civil war was unleashed, which ended only in 2002.
The war left more than 150 000 dead, many thousands have disappeared and economic development has been set back.
Bouteflika, who first came to power in 1999, has not formally stepped down as president. Algeria’s Prime Minister, Ahmed Ouyahia, stepped down instead. Ouyahia was replaced by Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui, who will form a new government.
Protests ran for six consecutive weeks, and despite Bouteflika sending in the security forces to stamp them out, the protesters were peaceful, and in good spirits, and in the last days many families with children joined them.
The government banned state media from covering the protests. The protesters used social media to spread their message. Civil society organisations were restricted through the 2012 Law on Associations.
Pressure mounted on Bouteflika even from the country’s governing establishment. More than 1 000 judges refused to oversee the planned elections if he was the presidential candidate. Bouteflika’s government regularly pressured Muslim clerics to preach pro-government sermons.
However, during the current protests, senior Muslim clerics defied the injunction to preach in favour of Bouteflika and his government.
Imam Djamel Ghoul, one of the country’s most senior clerics, said last week: “Leave us to do our job, don’t interfere.” Most importantly, up to now Bouteflika’s strongest backers, the military, conceded last week that their man was finished, when their representative, Salah, came out publicly on behalf of the military, saying it shared the “vision” of “the people”.
Bouteflika and his allies in the FLN compromised and appointed Bedoui as new interim prime minister until new elections are held.
Bedoui has promised to form an inclusive government that would include all opposition parties, civil society organisations and the youth.
However, so far this has been dismissed by youth groups, civil society organisations and opposition parties as a possible ploy to give the FLN ruling group time to regroup and find a more publicly acceptable way to extend its power.
Algeria has now set up talks for a new inclusive democratic future, led by former UN diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.
The idea is for the country to have a national convention, which would include the FLN, representatives of all parties, civil society organisations and the youth, which would chart a new direction for the country. The convention will draft a new constitution, set a date for elections and put together neutral institutions to oversee the elections and the transition to democracy.
The military, which is controlled by leading members of the armed wing of the FLN, has insisted on being part of the convention.
Bouteflika must step down. The military must return to the barracks and not be involved in politics.
The country’s established institutions – judges, clerics, business and the police – who have propped up Bouteflika – must side with the people. There has to be independent oversight of the coming elections.
Independent opposition groups, civil society and progressive associations must unite on one platform.
Whoever wins the election must ensure the separation of power between the political party and the government; the role of the opposition must be entrenched; and any new political dispensation must guarantee fundamental human rights, freedom of expression and social justice.
The military conceded last week that their man was finished when it said it shared the vision of the people