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Note From the Editor
By Arezki Daoud
Deadlock in the Algerian crisis: the general vs. the people
The past days in Algeria were characterized by a continuation of the showdown between the anti-government protest movement and the current governing figures. The government is now largely personified by Defense Chief General Gaid Salah, who has become the voice of the clan that the protest movement is seeking an end to. Gaid Salah has dug in against protesters’ demands that key leaders quit and be replaced by transitional bodies, vowing to press ahead with presidential elections set for July 4, therefore there has been no reprieve in the current political conflict.
The regime is using both military and civilian courts to neutralize the Bouteflika clan and those who have been calling for regime change, in what appears to be a broadening cleanup operation that promises more instability ahead. Not only the pro-Bouteflika clan is directly targeted judging by the arrests of the brother of former President Bouteflika, as well at former senior intelligence chiefs, but the arrests of opposition party chief, Louisa Hannoune, and General Benhadid, a critic of the regime, appear to complicate the political crisis affecting Algeria.
The situation has worsened as the government’s bet that the protest movement would die down in the month of Ramadan did not materialize. Protesters appear determined to challenge the regime, now directly naming General Gaid Salah as the primary obstacle to a smooth transition.
On the first Friday of Ramadan, 10 May 2019, protesters thronged Algeria’s capital demanding reforms and the departure of key figures from ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s regime. There were tens of thousands who took to the street despite the heat and lack of food and water. The demonstrators reiterated that acting head of state Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui must resign. Protests took place in Oran, Constantine and Annaba, as well in almost all second and third-tier cities.
And as in every Tuesdays, thousands of students gathered in central Algiers on 14 May 2019 for the 12th time since the beginning of the popular protest movement. The students marched toward the parliament, demanding the ousting of all remnants of the Bouteflika regime, rejected the presidential election scheduled on 4 July; and rebuked the possibility of a military state. The Tuesday protests are early indicators of public sentiments and how the general protests will fare on the following Friday.
