Monday, March 11, 2019

Algeria protests : The Presidential elections are adjourned but this is not enough for the Algerians

And in a big twist of events, Algeria’s current president Abdel Aziz Bouteflika “announced” in a message to the Algerian people that the upcoming presidential elections in April were adjourned and that he would not seek to run to the presidency for the fifth time.

He also announced that the government would hold a national inclusive independent conference to discuss the upcoming transitional period in Algeria, a new constitution would be drafted. New presidential elections would be held following that conference.

There is no timeline announced but the announcement said that all that would happen before the end of 2019. There is nothing in the constitution about what should happen when his term ends this year.
Algerian protesters say that Bouteflika Can't "AP"
From Paris, Algerian protesters say that Bouteflika Can't "AP" 

In that message , the ailing-health-president said that he did not intend to run for the fifth time for presidency !!!! “Who then presented his documents to the Presidential elections committee last week while he was in Geneva University hospital !!??”

Bouteflika did not announce all that in a speech on Television as someone would expect.
The statement was sent to the media and was published in Algeria’s state news agency “Algerie Presse Service”.
Prime Minister Ouyahia resigned and a new prime minister was appointed.
It is a busy night for news channels and news websites in the Arab world.
There is no doubt that whoever runs the show in Algeria “the army is co-leading actor for sure” is behind that statement.
That twist of events happened after that dramatic return of Abdel Aziz Bouteflika from Geneva as he was receiving treatment from some unknown illness
Those decisions were taken following three weeks of protests and marches that rocked Algeria and reminded me with the original Egyptian-million-marches and protests in the ol’ good days in Egypt


Interestingly, Abdel Aziz Bouteflika met earlier Monday veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi at the Algerian presidency.
Rumors came from Algiers in the past 24 hours that the Algerian army was going to oust ill Bouteflika and install Brahimi as an interim president.
I believe Brahimi is wiser to be implicated in a direct coup regardless of what.

Nevertheless, he is surely playing some role in the backstage with his sudden appearance like that.

This is not the end but rather the start of a new phase in Algeria and honestly, I pray that Algeria follows up Tunisia’s steps and not to follow the steps of Egypt and realistically speaking, it already had seen the worse. “You know that following Rabaa sit-in dispersal were scared of that scenario”.
I do not have doubt that what happened in the Algerian civil war between the military and the Islamists and how things turned into in Egypt, Syria and Libya are all playing part in the current decision process in Algeria’s deep state backstage.

Speaking about the military, Bouteflika whose voice has not been heard publicly met too on Monday with Deputy-Minister of National Defense, Chief of Staff of People’s National Army (ANP) Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaïd Salah.
Bouteflika in terrible shape with Salah on Monday in Algiers
Bouteflika in terrible shape with Salah on Monday in Algiers
"Algerian Presidency" 
We must learn this name very well along the names of ANP’s commanders because we know first hand that they may play "a correction: They are playing a role".

The Algerian TV channels aired short videos showing the old president in his meetings with the officials and Brahimi. He did not speak nor move his mouth in those videos.

You can see that the man is extremely ill and in no shape to rule. It is a bad farce.
Tonight Algeria won’t sleep for sure.

Algerian people  won’t sleep and some are extremely happy from what I see online and offline in the streets accordingly to news channels’ coverage.
But , the big but they are realistic and they know their country and their ruling regime better than anyone.
They know that Bouteflika or whoever runs the show presented them the minimum of what they want, which is a true democracy.
Now top trending hashtags in Algeria as follow :
Algeria's hashtags on Monday

#Leave_means_leave
“in Plural”
#No_To_Extend_Bouteflika’s_4_presidential_term
#Protests_15_March “Oh yes they are going to protest on the 15th”
This is just the star of a new phase.
Again I hope Algeria follows Tunisia’s path and learns from our mistakes.
And yes , Bouteflika is the fifth Arab president to leave after protests since a Tunisian policewoman slapped a street vender in a small town in Tunisia in December 2010. 

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