Since October 2019, police suppression of protesters in Algiers has involved violence: using riot gear and batons. The president has a recent history of brain strokes that at times cost him control over most of his senses and placed him on a wheelchair. Every Thursday and Friday, and eventually other days as well, the Algerian movement persisted with the same dramatic demands. It did not set a new date for the presidential election, asking Bensalah to organise a vote at a later date, state television said. Algeria�s five presidential candidates on 17 November 2019 launched their campaigns, but some opposition protesters who say the vote will not be fair have hung sacks of garbage in places designated for political posters. (function(src){var a=document.createElement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.async=true;a.src=src;var b=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];b.parentNode.insertBefore(a,b)})("//experience.tinypass.com/xbuilder/experience/load?aid=bYdYZQml5V"); On 22 February 2019, Algerians took to the streets to protestPresident Abdelaziz Bouteflika�s attempt to run for a fifth mandate. "There will be no vote!" He returned as housing minister from 2012 to 2017 when he was briefly appointed prime minister. In a series of announcements on Monday evening, the presidency said the election, previously set for April, would now be postponed. The �Algeria Stand Up� (Alg�rie � Debout! ) The scale of the protests surprised many in Algeria and represented the biggest challenge in years to Bouteflika. Bedoui had served as interior minister. At least 25�people were arrested before Friday's march. The deadline for registration passed at midnight on May 25. Rumors include the Vice Minister of Defense Ahmed Gaid Salah becoming the head the Algerian government. #ga-ad {display: none;} Both sides (the people and the establishment or military) see the constitution as the ultimate arbiter, but differ in their interpretations of it. The military may back a relatively unknown �clean� candidate with no obvious links to the previous regime, who will honour the unwritten agreement of ruling as the civilian mask of the military�s power. Ali Benflis, was prime minister under Bouteflika but later set up an opposition party and unsuccessfully ran against him in the 2014 election. In August 2019, Netblocks, a study on Internet shutdowns found that Youtube and Google services were blocked by state-run Algeria Telecom and other Internet providers after a political opposition video was posted. Bouteflika would resign by April 28. A photographer and journalist from local media were briefly detained by police and removed from the protests before being released, an AFP journalist said. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, another former prime minister, was sacked by Bouteflika after only 90 days after clashing with one of the then president�s allies. The five candidates were the softest version of Bouteflika�s system. Algeria's newly appointed president had set 04 July 2019 as the date for the country's postponed presidential election. According to the current constitution, the Senate president would become president of the republic if Bouteflika dies in office. Despite Bouteflika's shortcoming, the four major parties in the �pro-government bloc� insist that the current president serves best the interests of the country. By comparison, when Bouteflika was hospitalized in Paris in late 2005, the Algerian press -- both official and private -- stuck to reporting the uninformative government communiques on Bouteflika's condition. �The Hirak is taking charge of the health crisis,� said Anissa Daboussi, Middle East and North African program officer for the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). This means that every individual is included and the demands are sharply identified, with no negotiations with the regime unless it accepts the demands. It is an unorganized movement seeking radical and dramatic change, not just social and political reforms. Despite calling for the departure of the unpopular prime minister Noureddine Bedoui, former prime minister Ali Benflis�who has attempted, and failed, to bag the presidency twice against Bouteflika�is hoping to succeed in 2019. The opposition says he is not fit to run again. "We swear we will not stop!" It did not set a new date. var setNptTechAdblockerCookie = function(adblocker) { The so-called Arab Spring that began in neighboring Tunisia in 2011, and swept across the region, left little mark on Algeria. The political structure is aging. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia resigned and Noureddine Bedoui was appointed as the new prime minister. document.cookie = "__adblocker=" + (adblocker ? But the Constitutional Council said in a statement that it had received the files of two candidates, Abdelhakim Hamadi and Hamid Touahri, both unknown figures to the public. L'élection présidentielle algérienne de 2019 a lieu le 12 décembre 2019 en Algérie, après deux reports dans la même année. Interpretation of the ongoing Algerian movement called "Hirak" (meaning "movement" in Arabic) were highly contested among political commentators. "Regime murderers," groups of flag-waving demonstrators chanted as riot police blocking their route used tear gas to prevent protesters from reaching key central locations. Since then, he has not been directly involved in public engagements and even missed his very own presidential campaign in 2014. So in terms of intensity, scale, geographic location, and numbers there was a very different level. The socio-political state in Algeria over the last 8 months has made the elections a non-starter for the public, given the deep distrust of the political system -that the ballot box has historically perpetuated. In an interview with El Watan newspaper last month he hit out at speculation that the polls might be postponed and Bouteflika's mandate extended, saying he expected the army to stop any such move. script.setAttribute("onerror", "setNptTechAdblockerCookie(true);"); But Algeria�s rulers have been determined to hold the ballot on July 4, seeing it as the only way out of a crisis that forced Bouteflika to leave power in April after weeks of protests. The bloc comprises parties like National Liberation Front, headed by Bouteflika himself and the National Rally for Democracy, led by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia. His last meeting with a senior foreign official was during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 17 September 2018. The protests following Bouteflika's decision to seek reelection in 2014 involved tens to hundreds of protesters. Political scientists find it difficult to identify, with clearly defined borders, the differences between social movements and revolution. Initially, instead of escalating to a military conflict between both sides, the back and forth contention took place on the streets without injuries or deaths. The 2019–2020 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak Movement, began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. Oil dollars helped the government maintain stability and few Algerians wanted to revisit their violent past. Bouteflika pledged 03 March 2019 not to serve a full term if re-elected at April polls following huge protests against his bid to extend his 20 years in power. demonstrators chanted. The statement came after weeks of massive protests against the extension of the president�s fourth term. After purging the country�s top military and intelligence leadership multiple times, he is set to run for a fifth term in the April 2019 elections. Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui "will resign soon" to facilitate the holding of elections before the end of the year, which the army sees the only way to end a standoff over months of protests, two senior sources told Reuters on 10 September 2019. The ailing leader vowed in an 11th-hour letter read out on state television to organise a "national conference" that would set a date for early polls which he would not contest. On 20 March 2020, for the first time in over a year, the streets of the Algerian capital were quiet and almost empty on Friday, the day of weekly anti-government rallies. Algeria�s Constitutional Council announced 26 May 2019 that two candidates had finally registered for the country�s July 4th presidential election, hours after public radio reported that a deadline had passed without any candidacy. The move extended the rule of interim President Abdelkader Bensalah, who was meant to stay only until the vote to elect a new president after Bouteflika ended his 20-year rule in the wake of mass protests. A new constitution would be submitted to the public for a referendum. In December 2018, Bouteflika, who has been wheelchair-bound since 2013, was unable to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he came to Algiers for a two-day visit due to acute flu. This has not kept him from winning presidential elections in the oil and gas-rich North African nation even without running an electoral campaign. The state-run Algerian Press Service reported 56 police officers and seven citizens were wounded in the capital, Algiers, and several dozen protesters were arrested. The Hirak protests, which broke out across Algerian cities, were caused by the president�s announcement to run for re-election while ill in hospital and widely considered unfit for office. Ramtane Lamamra, who was Bouteflika�s diplomatic advisor, was appointed deputy prime minister. In short, no negotiations unless the protestors get the power. No major party has nominated a candidate. The party, chaired by Abderrazak Makri, stated some indicators cause many fears in terms of freedoms and democracy, including media control, restrictions on the establishment of associations and opposing parties, and attempts to whitewash state parties. The former believe elections cannot be held so long as remnants of the old regime are active and the people are not given the sovereignty afforded to them by the constitution to choose their next leader. "To come out onto the streets in such huge numbers is an act of courage by the Algerian people. The defense ministry's call came hours after the vice defense minister, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, said: "We will support the people until their demands are fully and completely satisfied.". The "resignation would occur before April 28, 2019. And on 02 April 2019, Gaid Salah, the country's powerful army chief and a long-time loyalist of the president, issued a strongly worded statement condemning "the gang that had seized control of" Algerians' destiny, in a direct reference to the president's inner circle, including elite cronies benefitting from the decades-long status quo. The 2019 presidential elections would decide current President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's future in power. Algerians felt both humiliated and infantilized by being expected to vote for Bouteflika once again � regardless of the true state of his health. However, unlike some of the revolutionary movements of the Arab Spring, it totally rejected violence. His infrequent public appearances and the postponement of a referendum on constitutional reform expected for December led ordinary Algerians to conclude that the president's health is declining. Former Prime Minister Abdelmalek Salal took charge as Bouteflika�s campaign director. However, the men on the ballot all have close links with the establishment, and though some of them pushed for reforms, many still see them as part of an entrenched, unchanging elite. Algeria cannot hold a presidential election planned for July 4 due to a lack of valid candidates, its constitutional council said on 02 June 2019, prolonging the country's transition after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned two months earlier. Demonstrations have since continued, with protesters demanding Bensalah's resignation and an end to the dominance of the elite who have ruled Algeria since it won independence from France in 1962. By 2006 Algerians were increasingly discussing and expressing concern about President Bouteflika's health. Now there were hundreds of thousands of protesters. The beginning of Algerian protests in February 2019, which continued through the year, were paradoxical in that the Algerian movement did fall within either of these Arab Spring categories. Only a handful of the top leaders (Bouteflika and the military) know the truth about Bouteflika's health, and Bouteflika might yet surprise people. The coronavirus threat put paid to what would have been the 57th straight Friday of "Hirak" anti-regime protests since February 22, 2019, leaving mainly policemen, most wearing masks, out on the streets. On September 15th, Algeria�s interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, announced that a third attempt at holding elections, after the cancelled attempts in April and July, would take place on December 12th. Movement of Society for Peace, the largest opposition Islamist party, said it would announce its position on the presidential elections when the �electoral commission is officially called� - implying that the deadline should be set by the president, and not by the army chief. Algeria faced its largest demonstrations in years, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to protest another re-election bid by ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. But he was sacked by Bouteflika after just three months for criticising some of the president's inner circle, many of whom are now in jail on corruption charges. "The army will meet the people's demands," he told military personnel at a base on 10 April 2019, once again denouncing the corrupt "gang" running the country. The secretive military-based establishment known to Algerians as �le pouvoir� (the powers-that-be) appeared to have stood aside while the demonstrations have taken place. A new caretaker government headed by recently appointed Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui was announced on 31 March 2019. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a former Algerian prime minister who served under deposed leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was elected president of the protest-wracked country after a vote marred by unrest and low turnout. They want regime figures including army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah and interim President Abdelkader Bensalah to step down ahead of any poll and demand new independent institutions to oversee voting. Since they began, Algerian authorities arrested more than a hundred protesters, journalists and activists, violating their rights to freedom of expression and association under the Algerian constitution and under international law. Tebboune faced a difficult task to be accepted by the electorate in the North African country, where many citizens see the government as inept, corrupt and unable to manage the flagging economy. They argue that no one can lead Algeria in its coming stage but Bouteflika. Protesters had targeted the "3B" - Belaiz, Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, and Abdelkader Bensalah, who served as upper house speaker until being appointed interim president after Bouteflika's resignation. Said Bouteflika and Generals Bachir Athmane Tartag and Mohamed Mediene were taken into custody on Saturday for questioning. Upper house chairman Abdelkader Bensalah will reportedly be caretaker president for 45 days. The army wants a return to normality and the end to a period of constitutional limbo in which an interim president holds office until a new election. Voters re-elected Bouteflika in the 17 April 2014 presidential elections. By 2006 Gaid-Salah was 7 yaers beyond the new mandatory retirement age and had served as Chief of Staff since August 2004. The coronavirus pandemic has emptied streets once packed with millions of anti-government protesters, while authorities continue a campaign of intimidation and arrests. Foreign observers characterized the elections as largely peaceful but noted low voter turnout and a high rate of ballot invalidity. Hirak�s opposition to the election set up a showdown over turnout - with the army and ruling establishment hoping for enough participation to ensure the legitimacy of a new president who can then move to end the protests. Thousands of people took to the streets of Algeria's capital on 01 March 2019 to protest against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in power, AFP news agency reported. In a statement on state television, the constitutional council said it had received only two candidates, who were deemed invalid. Of that at least 300 million is unaccounted for. Algerian news website TSA reported crowds had gathered at other locations around the country. The resultant frustration has led to frequent protests, demonstrations and civil disobedience throughout the country.  The uncertain outcome of this process appears to worry elements of the regime. Yet other analysts believe, paradoxically, that COVID-19 could see it emerge stronger than ever. The statement noted challenges hindering the political process, establishes corruption and creates gangs, is the impartiality of elections and lack of neutrality of state institutions. Five candidates would run in Algeria�s presidential election, including two former prime ministers, the head of the election authority said on 02 November 2019, amid mass protests rejecting the vote. On 04 May 2019 -Algerian police arrested former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's youngest brother alongside two former intelligence chiefs. The president's office made the announcement 01 April 2019 after weeks of street protests, delays, resignations and political discussions. Protesters had ambitious demands in a country long- dominated by veterans of the 1954-1962 independence war against France, now seen by many Algerians as too old and out of touch. Facebook group with more than 60,000 members was hacked and shutdown by the state. Despite Bouteflika�s departure, protesters have continued to stage mass demonstrations each Friday. script.setAttribute("async", true); The revenues from oil in the last 20 years have been at least a trillion dollars. The next president would likely be chosen from a score of candidates running for the election, such as PM Ahmed Ouyahia, former PM Abdelmalek Sellal and former Energy Minister Chakib Khelil. The �Hirak� opposition movement, which emerged this year from weekly mass protests demanding the entrenched ruling hierarchy quits power, says it will not support any election until more senior officials stand aside. In a sense they have got rid of their fear of the repressive regime. For the moment, Boutelika was expected to formally present his candidacy by Sunday�s deadline. About one million people took to the streets of Algiers on Friday 29 March 2019 to demand the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, police officers at the scene said, in the biggest demonstration since unrest erupted six weeks ago. Other media described witness accounts of police hitting demonstrators with batons and lobbing tear gas at them. Protesters opposed Bouteflika running for a fifth term in office, but there was also anger at the country�s high joblessness and alleged government corruption. Initialement prévu pour le 18 avril 2019, le scrutin devait voir la candidature d'Abdelaziz Bouteflika à un cinquième mandat présidentiel. Algerians took to the streets in celebration on 11 March 2019 after ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he had abandoned his decision to seek a fifth term, bowing to weeks of mass demonstrations against his 20-year rule. The Islamic Party said the real democratic transformation can only be achieved by real political will. Bouteflika�s supporters say his mind remains sharp, even though he needs a microphone to speak. the movement does not have representatives. More than 1,000 judges said on 11 March 2019 they would refuse to oversee the election if Bouteflika stood. On 02 September 2019, army chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah announced the electoral commission �should issue a call on September 15�, meaning that according to Algeria's constitution, the presidential elections will be held 90 days, on December 12. Abdelkader Bengrina, a moderate Islamist, was tourism minister. Clerics said they would not accept government orders about what to preach. Ghediri has bolstered his profile with a series of prominent media appearances in recent weeks. Bouteflika had been part of Algeria�s power system since its independence from France in 1962. Thousands marched in different cities of Algeria Friday 06 December 2019 to demand the presidential election scheduled for Dec. 12 to be canceled. When performing the national oath, Bouteflika failed to read a full paragraph, leaving the impression that he would have great difficulty in fulfilling responsibilities during his fourth mandate. Bedoui's departure was a major demand of protesters, who in early April forced long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit, and who had rejected fresh polls until there is a more thorough change of the power structure. "Fifty percent of the Algerian population, we are talking about 42 million people, is under the age of 27 and 30 percent of those are unemployed. script.setAttribute("src", "//www.npttech.com/advertising.js"); Ali Ghediri, a former defence ministry personnel director, on 19 January 2019 became the first candidate to announce a run for president in April elections, as ailing incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika's intentions remained unknown. He assumes the post for 60 days while presidential elections are held, but he cannot stand as a candidate himself. The president's brother and special adviser Said has been widely seen as Algeria's de facto ruler since Abdelaziz's stroke, which severely impaired the president's speech. They took to the streets on the 42nd consecutive Friday of protests against the "shadowy" ruling elite, which had controlled Algeria since its independence in 1962. The anti-government protests that erupted in several cities and towns after Friday prayers on 01 March 2019 were the biggest in years. The protests were largely peaceful, butthere were reports of violence that left at least one person dead. Voter turnout stood at 33 percent at 5pm local time (16:00 GMT), just two hours before polls closed, according to Algeria's independent election monitoring authority. Keenan called the demonstrations "completely unprecedented". Salah referred to Article 102 of the Algerian constitution which provides for the appointment of the parliament chairman as interim head of state, and organization of a snap election in the event that the president�s health prevents him from properly executing his duties. The Arab Spring was categorized as either a revolutionary movement or, more narrowly, as different social movements. If Bouteflika does not opt for a fifth stay in office, the same bloc would remain in power. He served in Bouteflika's government from 1999 to 2002 as communications and then housing minister. Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation followed an aggressive call from the country's defense ministry for the embattled president to quit "immediately" following weeks of street protests. Tebboune, 74, took 58.15 percent of the vote, trouncing his four fellow contenders without the need for a second-round runoff, electoral commission chairman Mohamed Charfi announced. Security forces had been mostly restrained. Tayeb Belaiz informed the council, which will play a key role in upcoming presidential elections, that "he presented his resignation... to the head of state". People know this and are sick of it." Twenty-three candidates had applied to the election authority, but most failed to meet requirements which include collecting signatures from 25 of the country�s 48 provinces. Eventually, , a record six in 10 Algerians abstained, Charfi said, the highest rate for a multi-party election since independence from France in 1962. Azzeddine Mihoubi was a culture minister under Bouteflika for years. The establishment believe all solutions must be derived from the constitution, in order to preserve the state�s institutions and security, which many view as a smokescreen for the military to maintain its position of imposing political leaders who represent their interests. While the presidency denies that anything ails Bouteflika, the public generally believed he suffers from stomach or intestinal cancer. Since the start of the campaign, Tebboune has sought to distance himself from his years of service under Bouteflika. In at least one location, police opened fire with tear gas and rubber bullets, chasing and beating demonstrators, after youths hurled stones at them. More than 24 million people were eligible to vote. An earlier meeting with Merkel and a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte were cancelled. The head of the Algerian Constitutional Council stepped down 16 April 2019 after weeks facing the ire of protesters. Algeria�s army chief called for long-term leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit to rule. } Algeria on 18 January 2019 announced a presidential election for 18 April 2019 without indicating whether veteran leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika would stand, following calls for his nomination by a loyal ruling caste of businessmen, trade unions and the military. Algerians thronged their capital Friday 29 November 2019 to insist that a presidential election set for December�12 must not go ahead before a change of regime. The military may seem like they have their personal pick from the 120 plus potentials who have submitted their candidacies. In 2007, US embassy contacts in Algeria described Gaid Salah, commander of Algerian military forces, as "perhaps the most corrupt official in the military apparatus". ", Algeria's president informed the country's constitutional council 02 April 2019 of his decision to stand down. As Algeria prepares for the first presidential election since the removal of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, protests have intensified on the streets. The poll is strongly opposed by protesters who reject any vote held under authorities they say are tarnished by corruption from the rule of ousted leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The military, headed by Ahmed Gaid Salah, sees an election as the only acceptable exit from the political impasse. Protesters fear the poll will cement in power politicians close to ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who quit in April under popular pressure after two decades as head of state. There are no presidential term limits, and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been in office since 1999. "We must find a way out of this crisis immediately, within the constitutional framework," Lt Gen Ahmed Gaed Salah said in a televised speech 26 March 2019. Former prime minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who was sacked after barely three months in for attempting to separate money from the state is seen as Benflis� obstacle for the presidency. "true" : "false") + "; expires=" + d.toUTCString() + "; path=/"; Relying on a legitimacy buoyed by his perceived victimhood under Bouteflika�s presidency and his backing of the popular movement (despite coming out in support of Bouteflika�s fifth term in January this year), his chances of capturing public trust are slim.