The suppression of the last embers of the Hirak revolt (movement, in Arabic) in Algeria – which began five years ago – has put dozens of opponents and dissidents behind bars, according to Amnesty International in its latest report. While the opaque Maghreb country has seen a rare opening to the world in recent days at a summit of gas exporting states, the regime has shown signs of consolidation since 2019, although it has failed to hold on to power in elections scheduled for December , he hosted heads of state and government from countries such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela, without having yet confirmed his candidacy for re-election.
Five years ago, massive popular protests prevented President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was seriously ill and absent from public life, from being re-elected for a fifth term. A civil movement was spreading across Algeria, advocating for the rule of law and against the corruption born of two decades of indiscriminate presidency. Starting on February 22, 2019, the population spontaneously and peacefully took to the streets every week to reject Bouteflika's remaining in power, who withdrew his candidacy two months later.
The mobilization continued, this time in favor of a “free and democratic Algeria” and for “a civilian, non-military state”. The pandemic interrupted the mobilizations the following year, and when they resumed in 2021, they were suppressed by systematic harassment of parties and organizations linked to the Hirak on accusations of “attacking institutions.”
“Algeria hopes for free, democratic elections this year with real opportunities for change,” explains former minister and diplomat Abdelaziz Rahabi, 70, in his private office in Algiers. “But today there is no favorable political climate for transparent elections due to restrictions on freedom of expression,” he warns. “The activity of the parties is very limited, as is that of the media.”
“It is a tragedy that five years after the Algerian people took to the streets en masse to demand reforms and political change, the authorities have continued their chilling campaign of repression,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Eastern regional director. Middle and North Africa. It also calls for “the immediate and unconditional release of dozens of people detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.” For three years, prior registration has been required to call a demonstration.
Algerian President Abdelmayid Tebún welcomed this Saturday at the summit of gas exporting states in Algiers.MOHAMED MESSARA (EFE)
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The protective state model that has been practiced in Algeria since independence from France in 1962, which distributes the benefits of oil and gas among the population, was reinforced by the increase in the price of hydrocarbon gas exports after the war in Ukraine. “It is not a model that works,” emphasizes Rahabi, who was his country's ambassador to Spain and worked on coordination between the different organizations that made up the movement during the Hirak revolt.
“The increase in energy revenues was offset by the cost of raw materials such as wheat and pharmaceutical imports. “Everything has become expensive, not just gasoline,” he emphasizes. “The peaceful protests found no support in Western democracies and sparked fear among Arab authoritarian regimes,” Rahabi recalls with a hint of regret.
According to recent demographic forecasts, Algeria will soon have 50 million inhabitants, and although agriculture has expanded in the last two decades, the country must import half of the food it consumes, as is the case with grains. “We are not afraid of demographic growth because the country is big,” says the former Algerian minister. “At the moment, workers are needed in the Sahara regions.”
Alternative candidate
Despite the silence of those in power and speculation in the French and Moroccan press that cast doubt on President Tebún's re-election, political actors in Algeria are beginning to take a stand. Lawyer Zubida Assul, 68, leader of the center-left Union for Change and Progress party, was the first candidate to announce an alternative candidacy for the presidency against the Tebún hegemony, which is supported by the armed forces and the state apparatus. Assul, who has defended detainees for Hirak “opinion crimes” and advocated for the creation of a common political front of opposition forces involved in the protest movement, has seen the powerful public media ignore his political announcement last Friday.
Rahabi himself also tried to lead an initiative that would bring together the currents for change around the Hirak, both those represented in parliament and those from groups coming from the streets. Almost the entire opposition, including Assul's party, boycotted the 2021 parliamentary elections and handed over the sword to parliament. “Stability took precedence over change, which is why the Algeria of today is not far from that of 2019,” laments the former minister and diplomat. “The main demands remain the same: freedom, justice, fight against corruption and control over public wealth from gas and oil,” he adds.
On the eve of the energy summit, which wreaked havoc in rainy traffic jams in Algeria's capital – where a liter of petrol costs no more than 30 cents – President Tebún inaugurated the Great Mosque of Algiers. The temple, built a decade ago by a Chinese company, will open for Ramadan prayer services in a week. The new mosque is considered the largest in Africa and one of the largest in the Islamic world. It lies directly on the sea, surrounded by highways, and with its 265 meter high minaret symbolizes the rise of the Maghreb country due to the bonanza of manna gas. and oil. The official opening comes as political veterans like Rahabi, who was born in the midst of the War of Independence, confirm the “backsliding that Algeria has suffered in recent years in terms of individual and collective freedoms and freedom of expression.”
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