In this article, Jardar Alai explains the recent events in Algeria.
Photo Credit : The Conversation
Algeria is not a stranger to political turmoil. The country was a former French colony and during its independence war the French massacred millions of Algerians. In the 90s, they suffered a bloody civil war and even more life got lost. After that, Abdelaziz Bouteflika became president of the country. He was a war veteran who ruled Algeria for 20 years with an iron fist. Algeria has a corrupt ruling class, investing in themselves instead of the country. Algeria has a large number of resources and these resources are exploited by the French government with the help of the ruling class. Under Bouteflika regime, freedom of speech is at stake, and criticizing the government or the ruling class can get you imprisoned. Arab spring was a serious of uprising in many Arab countries. The Arabs in those countries wanted reforms and an end of the dictatorship in their respective countries. It saw the end of dictators of Egypt and Tunisia, but it started the seeds of civil war in Syria and Yemen. The Arab spring uprising affected every country in the Middle east and North Africa. The Algerians started to be more open about what they did not like about their government. Even more people got arrested of using their right of freedom of speech. In 2019, Algerians were tired of living under an oppressive system. They went to the streets to protest. The protesters used the name Hirak for representing their fight against discrimination that the government put on the people of Algeria. The Hirak is a leaderless movement. The Hirak made dictator Bouteflika step down as president after his 20 year of presidency. The people voted for Abdelmadjid Tebboune to lead the country.
The Tebboune regime became more free but a lot did not change. The ruling class just changed instead from Bouteflika's men ruling and taking money for themselves to Tebboune men's doing the same now. Small Hirak demonstrations happened last year against the ruling class because of Algeria's corona reactions making the protests fruitless. The government has arrested a few famous Hirak activists. 70 Hirak activists got arrested.
I n February of this year, 5000 Hirak demonstrators met at the city Kherrata. They chanted a civilian state, not a military state and the protest must go. They are demonstrating for reforms. The protest spread to more cities and the Algerian military attacked the protesters with brutality and tear gas. President Tebboune decided to dissolve government and free the 70 Hirak Protesters. The Hirak is not impressed by the Tebboune actions and the protest continues. More mistrust between people and the government is a consequence of the action of the ruling class.
Sources:
1.Human right watch 02.23.2021 Algeria’s Hirak Protest Movement Marks Second Anniversary https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/23/algerias-hirak-protest-movement-marks-second-anniversary
2. die welle 02.27.2021 Algeria's protesters resume demonstrations after year-long break https://www.dw.com/en/algerias-protesters-resume-demonstrations-after-year-long-break/a-56721641
3. die welle 02.16.2021 Algeria: Thousands take to the streets to relaunch protest movement https://www.dw.com/en/algeria-thousands-take-to-the-streets-to-relaunch-protest-movement/a-56593206