• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Dalia Ghanem"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Arab Spring 2.0"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Maghreb",
    "North Africa",
    "Algeria"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Why the Presidential Election Will Not Solve Algeria's Political Crisis

A new president will not mean the end of the old regime rather a continuation of the military involvement in politics.

Link Copied
By Dalia Ghanem
Published on Dec 12, 2019
Program mobile hero image

Program

Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

Learn More

Source: Middle East Eye

On 10 December, Algerian former Prime Ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal were sentenced respectively to 15 and 12 years in prison. Others, among them the ministers of industry, Youcef Yousfi and Mahdjoub Bedda, were sentenced to 10 years in prison, along with several businessmen including Ali Haddad and Hassan Larbaoui . 

A few days before, the first-ever televised election debate between the five candidates – all relics of the Bouteflika era – took place in Algeria on 6 December, on the same day protesters held their last Friday rally before the presidential election due on Thursday.

The politico-military leadership

Both these trials and this so-called “historical debate” are masquerades, and many Algerians did not buy into it.

The politico-military leadership has been trying all kinds of subterfuges to convince people that the election is the only way forward and that a vote boycott would constitute a menace to the stability of the country that, according to Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah, may be "entering the dark tunnel of the constitutional void".

While the presidential elections will undoubtedly be held as planned- it has already started abroad - questions remain about how the regime will manage its ongoing crisis of legitimacy. In other words, what is the regime’s next move in the face of the peaceful and massive mobilisation that is showing no signs of abating.

The regime is confronted today with three options. It can continue to disregard people’s demand and count on the exhaustion of the movement, or it can use coercive measures and severely crackdown on the protesters. Lately the security services have been arresting many opposition activists and political figures, and on the eve of the elections, police violently dispersed demonstrators. 

A third option would be to start a negotiation process with the protest movement once a new president is elected. Such a move would allow the politico-military leadership to create a modicum of legitimacy for a president who will be lacking one and also avoid violent repression that might drive the country into a cycle of violence.

The full article was originally published in the Middle East Eye.

About the Author

Dalia Ghanem

Former Senior Resident Scholar, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Dalia Ghanem was a senior resident scholar at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where her research focuses on Algeria’s political, economic, social, and security developments. Her research also examines political violence, radicalization, civil-military relationships, transborder dynamics, and gender.

    Recent Work

  • Article
    Against the Odds: Women Entrepreneurs in Algeria

      Dalia Ghanem

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Scholars’ Best Books of 2021
      • +5

      Frances Z. Brown, Judy Dempsey, Dalia Ghanem, …

Dalia Ghanem
Former Senior Resident Scholar, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Dalia Ghanem
Political ReformMaghrebNorth AfricaAlgeria

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Article
    Climate Pressures in Algeria: The Crisis in Rural Kabylie

    Understanding how farmers in the Oued Sahel-Soummam Valley grapple with climate change is essential for addressing the paradoxes through which adaptation, operating at both individual and institutional levels, deepens the region’s vulnerability and erodes the social fabric and agrarian identity that once defined life.

      Ilyssa Yahmi

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    In Russia, the Public Mood Is Souring

    The Russian regime is now visibly motivated by fear.

      Alexander Baunov

  • Article
    EU Integration Without Ratification?

    Countries face several hurdles in joining the EU, including the final stage of ratifying their accession treaties. Procedural reforms and substantive adjustments could help move the process forward.

      Stefan Lehne

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    There Is No Shortcut for Europe in Armenia

    Europe has an interest in supporting Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan as he tries to make peace with neighbors and loosen ties with Russia. But it is depersonalized support in the long term, not quickfire flash, that will win the day.

      Thomas de Waal

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    The Rada Reawakens: Ukraine’s Messy Politics Returns

    The return of parliamentary politics reflects a broader shift from earlier expectations of a settlement and elections toward the reality of a prolonged war.

      Balázs Jarábik

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.