Algiers, March 31, 2020 – A year after the unexpected downfall of Algeria’s longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the ailing octogenarian remains holed up in his plush and medically adapted home, with his detractors still demanding justice. Bouteflika assumed the presidency in 1999, reigning omnipresent over Algeria’s political life until a stroke rendered him largely invisible in 2013. Since he resigned under pressure from protesters and the military in April 2019, the public has heard nothing from him. His last appearance was on April 2 last year, when he spoke on television to announce the end of his rule.
His downfall had become inevitable after weeks of massive protests that followed his declaration early last year that he would run for a fifth term. Eventually the army, then led by Ahmed Gaid Salah, cut him loose. Since then the former leader, who turned 83 in March, has only rarely left his coastal home in the capital. “He lives surrounded by his sister and a medical team,” a source close to his entourage told AFP.
Bouteflika continues to “enjoy all the privileges” befitting his rank as a former leader, according to Mohamed Hennad, a former political science professor at the University of Algiers. But virtually nothing is known about his daily life. “He receives few visits. He is confined to his wheelchair and remains virtually speechless,” said Algerian journalist Farid Alilat in an interview last month with Le Point newspaper. “However he is aware of everything that is happening in Algeria,” Alilat added.
Bouteflika’s isolation has not stopped some public figures demanding he face justice for the corruption that infected the country during his 20 years in power. Algerians can never turn the page on the Bouteflika years unless he is tried for the painful damage inflicted by his rule, said Hennad, who is now an analyst close to the “Hirak” protest movement that forced Bouteflika from power.
‘Godfather of corruption’
Algeria’s judiciary has since Bouteflika’s fall prosecuted and in some cases imprisoned a slew of former politicians and influential businessmen for abusing their privileges and links to the ex-president’s clan. Nacer Djabi, a prominent sociologist, argues the former head of state should appear in court — “even symbolically” — as recent cases have portrayed him as “the godfather of corruption”. “He shouldn’t escape punishment. That’s a demand of Algerians who have discovered with horror the extent of the damage caused by this man and his family,” Djabi told AFP.
Abdelaziz Rahabi, a former diplomat and one-time minister in the first Bouteflika government who went on to become an opponent, also called for his prosecution. The former president “has a responsibility for the corruption. He covered it up,” Rahabi said in a television interview. “A judgement would be symbolic,” he said, stopping short of calling for Bouteflika’s imprisonment in light of his poor health. On the other hand, the ex-president’s brother Said Bouteflika — an influential adviser considered the real holder of power in the country during his tenure — is languishing in prison.
Said Bouteflika was in September last year sentenced to 15 years in jail for plotting against the army and the state, a sentence that was confirmed on appeal in February. Algerians have clearly moved on from Bouteflika’s rule, according to political scientist Hasni Abidi. But “they have the sentiment that while the man is gone, the bad practices persist and the system that made Bouteflika what he was remains in place,” he said.
The same followers and cronies “are ready to cluster around a new patron, reproducing the same network in an undemocratic system,” Abidi added. A reinforcement of the status quo is the Hirak movement’s main fear. Protests have been suspended in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, but Hirak supporters vow to continue their struggle, in order to overhaul the entire ruling system that has been in place since Algeria’s independence in 1962.
Algeria since Bouteflika resigned
Algiers, March 31, 2020 (AFP) – Veteran Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down a year ago under massive popular pressure, but his resignation did not stop the protest movement. Here is a snapshot of how the year unfolded.
Bouteflika quits
On April 2, 2019, Bouteflika resigns following two decades in power, after the powerful army chief, Ahmed Gaid Salah, tells him to stand down. Since February 22 massive protests have been held every Friday, sparked by the ailing 82-year-old’s announcement that he would stand for a fifth term. While crowds cheer his departure, they again fill the streets on April 5, to keep pushing for the total dismantling of the system in place since independence from France in 1962. Upper house speaker Abdelkader Bensalah is on April 9 named interim president. Opposition parties refuse to confirm his nomination.
Army gets tough
Gaid Salah emerges as the key powerbroker and on May 20 rejects protesters’ key demands that an election planned for July 4 be postponed and that regime stalwarts depart. But the constitutional council on June 2 cancels the election due to a lack of candidates. However, citizens continue to protest massively in central Algiers, joining the weekly demonstrations of the movement dubbed “Hirak”. On September 18, the military toughens its line, ordering police to block demonstrators from outside the capital entering Algiers for the weekly marches held every Friday.
Regime figures jailed
On September 25, a military court sentences Bouteflika’s brother Said and two former intelligence chiefs to 15 years in prison for “conspiring” against the state. Their sentences are confirmed on appeal in February 2020. In December, former prime ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, who were both close to Bouteflika, get 15 years and 12 years respectively in corruption trials, sentences recently confirmed. Other political and business leaders in Bouteflika’s circle are also prosecuted.
New president’s weak mandate
On December 12, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a one-time prime minister under Bouteflika, wins a presidential election, on an official turnout of less than 40 percent. Analysts say participation was considerably lower. The next day Tebboune calls for dialogue with protesters, who nevertheless remain on the streets. On December 23, state TV announces Gaid Salah has died from a heart attack, aged 79.
First Friday without protests
On February 21, Algerians flood the streets of the capital to celebrate the first anniversary of their popular movement. A month later, on March 20, the streets of Algiers are empty on a Friday for the first time since the start of the protest movement. Gatherings are banned due to the coronavirus epidemic, but the Hirak protest movement has in any case independently suspended its demonstrations. Human rights groups say that dozens of protest figures are still in detention.
