Hirak (Algeria)
The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles[26][27] or Hirak Movement (Arabic: الحِرَاك, romanized: al-Ḥirāk, lit. 'The movement'[28]) began on 16 February 2019,[1][29] six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. These protests, without precedent since the Algerian Civil War, were peaceful and led the military to insist on Bouteflika's immediate resignation, which took place on 2 April 2019.[30] By early May, a significant number of power-brokers close to the deposed administration, including the former president's younger brother Saïd, had been arrested.[31][32]
For other uses, see Hirak.The rising tensions within the Algerian regime can be traced back to the beginning of Bouteflika's rule which has been characterized by the state's monopoly on natural resources revenues used to finance the government's clientelist system and ensure its stability.[33] Major demonstrations took place in the largest urban centers of Algeria from February to December 2019. Due to their significant scale, the protests attracted international media coverage and provoked reactions from several heads of states and scholarly figures.
Timeline[edit]
Early days[edit]
In December 2018, calls for demonstrations in the neighborhood of Bab El Oued against the fifth term went unheeded, except by the police, which mobilized a significant dissuasive force.[53][54]
Context[edit]
Protesters[edit]
These are the largest protests in Algeria since 2001. The demonstrators are primarily young people who did not experience the "Black Decade".[40] One observer lauded the millennials' reappropriation of corporate branding to their own uses, as well as their respect for their living space through peaceful demonstrations, saying:
Media coverage[edit]
Until 1 March 2019, public television, radio, and press totally ignored the demonstrations, while private television channels linked to the establishment dealt with them in a limited way.[183] A boycott campaign was launched against the media.[184] The editor-in-chief of Channel III, Meriem Abdou, resigned on 23 February as a protest against the treatment of the movement on the government-run radio station. Several journalists were arrested.[183] A hundred journalists and the NGO Reporters Without Borders publicly denounced the censorship practiced by the Algerian executive.[185] When state TV channels did begin mentioning the protests, they were critical of the protesters and did not refer to their motives.[62][185] In contrast, private print media and news sites reported widely on events from the beginning.[183]
Despite the opening of the audiovisual media to competition in 2011, off-shore channels can be shut down at any time because of their precarious legal status.[186] One foreign media outlet, Al Jazeera, has been banned from Algeria since 2004.[187]
On 4 March, Nadia Madassi, Canal Algérie's nightly news anchor for the past 15 years, resigned because she had been required to read a letter attributed to the president on the air.[188]
On 5 March, Echorouk and El Bilad were sanctioned by the Ministries of Communication for having covered the demonstrations, and were cut off from advertising by the ANEP (national publishing and advertising agency).[189]
Results[edit]
Alliances of citizens' groups and dialogue[edit]
Women created the feminist collective Femmes algériennes pour un changement vers l'égalité on 16 March 2019, which pioneered the feminist square in the Friday Algiers protests to strengthen the political role of women in the protests.[14] Citizens' associations and individuals created the Dynamiques de la société civile alliance on 15 June, which was later joined by trade unions, with the aim of coordinating proposals to reorganise the political structure of the Algerian state.[190][15] On 26 June, political parties and the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights created the Forces of the Democratic Alternative alliance with similar aims, including the organising of a constituent assembly for a new political system with an independent judiciary.[17]
On 6 July, the Forum civil pour le changement, created on 9 March 2019 by 70 citizens' groups and led by Abderrahmane Arara,[13] and the Forces du changement held a conference at which they proposed the creation of a panel to dialogue with the government and in favour of the holding of a presidential election.[191][143] The 13-person dialogue panel, the Instance nationale de dialogue et de médiation, was created and led by Karim Younes. The dialogue panel and the holding of the election were widely criticised by the protesters and by the Forces of the Democratic Alternative, who stated that the arrests of protesters for political reasons and the lack of basic conditions of democracy were conditions unsuitable for an election.[142][13][143]
Citizens' groups to monitor the detentions of protest participants and call for their release were formed. The Network for fighting against repression was created on 1 June 2019 to call for the release of prisoners including Louisa Hanoune, the first woman to run for President of Algeria, and Hadj Ghermoul, a member of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights.[192] The National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD) was created on 26 August 2019.[193] In late December, several weeks after the presidential election won by Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the CNLD had documentation of 180 "Hirak" prisoners under remand or sentenced, and saw "no sign" of the government ceasing its frequent arrests of the protesters.[194][145]
On 25 January 2020, 400 people from various political parties and citizens' associations participated in Algiers in a meeting organised by Forces of the Democratic Alternative. The conclusion of the meeting was to hold another meeting to organise the detailed methods and rules for implementing a democratic transition during which existing "illegitimate" institutions would be dismantled and for organising a constituent assembly.[195]
Governmental institutions[edit]
On 11 March, it was announced that President Bouteflika would not seek re-election; that Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia had resigned and been replaced by Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui; and that the April 2019 presidential election was postponed indefinitely.[196] Inquiries were announced into "corruption and illicit overseas capital transfers" on 1 April 2019. Ali Haddad was arrested trying to cross the border into Tunisia after liquidating stock worth €38m.[112][197] On the same day, Bouteflika promised to step down by the end of his term on 28 April.
On 2 April 2019, Bouteflika resigned as president, after being pressured by the military to step down immediately.[113][114] Under Article 102 of the Algerian Constitution, he was succeeded as interim President by the President of the Council of the Nation, Abdelkader Bensalah, who was ineligible to run in the election for a successor, which according to law had to be held in the next 90 days.[116][198]
The presidential election was finally held on 12 December 2019, despite wide popular opposition.[142][13][143] The Rally for Culture and Democracy estimated the turnout in the election at 8% of the eligible electorate, interpreting the low turnout as a result of wide rejection of the election.[8] The official turnout was 39.88%, with Abdelmadjid Tebboune officially elected in the first round with 58.13% of the valid votes, leaving it unnecessary to hold a second round of the election.[9]
Constitutional amendment[edit]
On 7 May 2020, the preliminary draft of the constitutional amendment was published. It provides for the replacement of the post of First Minister by Head of Government, responsible to the Assembly, which can overthrow it by a motion of censure, the possibility for the President of the Republic to appoint a vice-president, the replacement of the Constitutional Council by a Constitutional Court, the retention of the limit on the number of presidential mandates to two, consecutive or not, or the limitation of the mandate of deputy to one re-election.[199] In addition, the Hirak is inscribed in the preamble of the Constitution and the army is authorized to participate in theaters of operation abroad. Finally, the National Independent Election Authority (ANIE) is constitutionalised, the presidential third of the Council of Nation is abolished and the possibility of legislating by ordinance during parliamentary recess is abrogated.[200]
On 8 September 2020, the final draft of the constitutional amendment was published. It revokes both of the vice-president post and the abolition of the presidential third of the Council of Nation.[201]
Influence[edit]
The weekend after Bouteflika stepped down, protesters in Sudan called upon the army to take their side against sitting president Omar al-Bashir. Despite the state of emergency and the emergency courts the President created to treat the protests, demonstrators staged a sit-in in the public space outside the Khartoum headquarters of the Armed Forces.[202]
Reactions[edit]
National[edit]
On 5 March, the National Organization of Mujahideen (the powerful organization of veterans of the Algerian War of Independence) announced by press release that they supported the demonstrations, lamenting "the collusion between both influential parties in the seat of power and unscrupulous businessmen who have profited illicitly from public money".[209]
International[edit]
International reactions were cautious; most countries and international organizations remained silent until 5 March.