The Closing Window for Change

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In The Media

Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

The Closing Window for Change

For more than four months now, protesters in Algeria have been urging a clean-up of the country's politics and a new constitution.

By Dalia Ghanem

Published on Jul 24, 2019

Source: Qantara

Algeria, where power has long been firmly consolidated in a deep state, has seen mass peaceful protests since 22 February. What started as student protests against the former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid to run for a fifth term after twenty years in power, grew to a nationwide movement pushing for a clean cut from the past and a new republic with a new constitution.

There is no date scheduled for elections in Algeria after a ballot slated for 4 July was postponed in early June.

IAs a result of the extended protests, the military, the real locus of power in Algeria, switched its allegiances and pressured President Bouteflika to renounce his bid to retain his rule. Several political figures, powerful former intelligence chiefs, business tycoons close to the Bouteflika inner circle and the brother of the former president, Saïd, have since been arrested and investigated on corruption charges. In application of article 102 of the constitution, Abdelkader Bensalah, who heads the National People's Assembly (NPA), was appointed as interim president with a caretaker government. In the absence of a date for the next elections, it seems that Bensalah's mandate, which expired on 7 July, will likely be extended until the next presidential election.

The full article was originally published in Qantara.de.

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
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Political Reform Maghreb North Africa Algeria

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.

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