On Thursday the Algerian people went to the polls to cast their vote in the country’s presidential elections. As expected, preliminary results indicate that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is heading towards a fourth term in office. However, despite the few surprises, some indications suggest that Algerians may slowly begin to shake the strong ruling politico-military elite.
Official figures suggest that around 51.7% of the 22 million legitimate voters casted their vote on the six registered candidates. Amongst the five candidates who registered against Bouteflika, was main competitor Ali Benflis who after loosing in the 2004 polls disappeared from the political scene for 10 years. While Bouteflika claimed victory on the late Election Day, Benfalis claimed fraud.
However, despite yet another presidential win for Bouteflika there is more than meets the eye in Algeria. While a pale and silent Bouteflika cast his vote from his wheelchair at a school in the El Biar district of Algiers, his fellow country men in Bouira, about 110 kilometres southeast of the Algerian capital, burned two voting centres. In the province’s cities of Raffour, Saharij and Mechdallah demonstrators clashed with police in what turned into violent riots wounding around 70 people.
“I am not voting,” says 23-year old student Sonia Tènèrè, “nobody in my family is.” She is spending Election Day with her family in Bouira where many are boycotting the elections. Tènèrè wants change but argues that it doesn’t matter if they vote or not, Bouteflika will win regardless.
Ever since Bouteflika publically announced his decision to run for a fourth term in office, the election process has been impeded by demonstrators defying the capital’s ban on protesting, organising demonstrations and sit-ins calling for him to step down.
Many aim their criticism at Bouteflika’s old age, 77 years, and fragile health condition, simply questioning his ability to govern the country for another five years. The long-term serving president, in power since 1999, suffered a stroke last year and spent three months in a hospital in Paris. Since then his public appearances have been rare and he has not participated in any of his own election campaigns, not even the party’s final rally. Prior to casting his vote on Election Day, Bouteflika only made a public appearance when declaring his re-run for office.
The idea of another term of Bouteflika rule was too much to bear for a group of Algerians who established the apolitical grassroots movement Barakat, ‘enough’ in Algerian dialect. Established on 1 March the group is calling for democratic change and boycotting both the President and the elections.
Few believed that Barakat would pose any immediate threat to Bouteflika but local analysts considered it a positive development, a symbol of change on the country’s stagnant political scene. The National Liberation Front (FLN) has with the backing of the country’s military force been in firm control since independence from colonial power France in 1962. William Lawrence, visiting professor at George Washington University and senior fellow at Project of Middle East democracy, believes that even if Barakat may not be able to change anything in the short run the widespread boycott of the election can damage its legitimacy.
Opposition parties considered the decision a robbery of Algeria’s chance to fair elections. Bouteflika’s electoral history is contested. With a strong support of the military he came to power in 1991, after all six opponents withdrew their participation, receiving about 74 percent of the votes. In the 2009 elections, after amending the constitution allowing him to run for a third term, he received an alleged 90 percent of the votes. Official numbers declared a 74.11 percent turnout but the US embassy estimated the much lower figure of 25-30 percent, a leaked diplomatic WikiLeaks cable revealed.
Despite that Algerian Internet usage is relatively low, compared to neighbouring Arab countries, 3G mobile Internet was only authorized in late 2013, social media has played an important part in mobilisation for example movements such as Barakat. The group uses its Facebook page to continuously inform its members of the latest news regarding for example scheduled protests. On Election Day, Twitter and Facebook was used, not only to mock the elections, but also to share photos and information about election boycotts around the country. Brutal police violence has also been filmed and posted on YouTube throughout the election campaign. According to Amel Boubekeur, a non-resident fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, social media can be an important medium for raising awareness of human rights violations, “but it can not substitute for real debate and grand mobilisation.”
A lot of the youth boycotted the elections. “Many of the young people have never voted,” says Boubekeur. Some of the new generations, about 70% of the population is under the age 30, are also aiming dissent against the aging politico-military elite, “Le Pouvoir,” referring to the senior generals and security officials running the country, Bouteflika at 77 years old, Gaid Salah, the army chief-of-staff at 78 and Tewfik Mediene, head of the intelligence services at 74.
The growing dissent is likely to continue, argues Boubekeur. “The fourth term is going to be an important moment for rising mobilisation,” she says and adds, “People are really fed up now.” To Boubekeur it is the beginning of something new, “It’s the start of a new period where resistance may shift to a more visible occupation of the streets and the Internet; a louder voice of dissent.”
However, Bouteflika remains popular. To his supporters he represents stability, and is often recognized for contributing to ending the Algerian civil war in the 1990s that killed around 200 000 people. In spite of some people’s desire for change the painful collective memory from the so-called “dark decade” remains an open wound, an endless reminder of a turbulent period that people will avoid returning to at all costs and which has put the country in a state of political apathy.
Le Pouvoir, now trying to secure Bouteflika’s succession and a future regime change, might not be as stable as they are trying to put forward.
Christine Petré is editor at Your Middle East and a freelance writer based in Tunisia. Follow her work at www.christinepetre.com and on Twitter @ChristinePetre.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.