Mobility of Algeria .. between the options of anticipation and return to the street

Fatima Hamdi-Algeria

Algeria's views on what the street might say after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's announcement that he is running for a fifth term are conflicting among those who believe the president's message has eased the anger of the street and who sees it as something new that will inflame the anger of hundreds of thousands of pro-regime protesters.

Bouteflika, in a letter to the people on Monday, decided to postpone the presidential elections scheduled for April 18, and not to run for a fifth term, in addition to "substantial amendments" to the cabinet. Independent.

"The demonstrations will not stop and will continue until the real change demanded by the people takes place," said political analyst Dr. Abdelali Razzaki.

"There is a kind of circumvention and marketing attempt to offer something, but reality confirms the dodging," Razaki told Al Jazeera Net.

The spokesman attributed the acceleration of the reversal of the fifth mandate "to the international pressure on the authority in Algeria, after the general strike that included all sectors in the country, which paralyzed ports and oil institutions and gas companies."

He expected the Algerians to leave in double numbers next Friday, demanding the departure of all heads of the regime that accompanied them for twenty years, and the trial of the corrupt, stressing that students who were expelled from the capital forcibly to their states will lead the movement, in the coming period, "each in his region."

Razaqi considered Bouteflika's decisions to be a flirtation of the people, while "imposing the extension of the deadlines is not known," and wondered about the implications of showing Lakhdar Brahimi with the president "whenever it is necessary to prove that his health is okay."

Proof of honesty
The political scientist pointed out that the authority is resorting to Brahimi "to prove to the United Nations its truth," denouncing the appointment of Ramtan Lamamra as the president's vice president.

"They have tried, through the distribution of tasks, to the ministers to proceed according to the quota system, that is, every region in Algeria is responsible for the system, and this is what we reject," he said.

Razaqi justified the celebration of thousands on the streets yesterday that revelers did not actually understand the decisions made by their president, noting that "they are entitled to joy as a step forward for the people, despite the fallacies that contained."

Razaqi contends that the Authority has resorted to Article 107 of the Constitution, which states that Algeria is threatened with dangers that could overthrow the constitutional institutions, and the president must intervene, at a time when Article 102, for which the people were to be brought out, should be implemented.

"If there was one sane person in power, he would think about the future of the country and resort to either the dissolution of the constitution, which would have to be the power of the people alone, or the activation of Article 102," he said.

The demonstrations faded away
For his part, political analyst Salim Qalaa expressed his satisfaction with the decisions made by Bouteflika's message yesterday, expecting "the momentum of the marches gradually declined, as the views will be divided by continuing mobility, what was considered in response to a basic demand called by the demonstrators, which is the fifth."

He said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that "the letter did not respond to the second demand, called by the protesters, which is to change the regime, and yet the demonstrators will make so much decisions waiting for what will be produced by the next phase."

The spokesman said that the changes that took place yesterday were a victory for the Algerian people, and for the marches that came civilized in their "union, organization and diversity. It is not partisan or one stream, but the people with all its components."

"It is enough for the people that Bouteflika's elected presidency will end in legal history, as dictated by the constitution," he said. "There is a difference between Bouteflika completing his year as president and taking him as an unelected president. Which will return most of the demonstrators to their homes. "

Return paper
He pointed out that everyone knows now that the people did not recognize Bouteflika, and that the current period "made the Algerian street cautious and will reduce its demand on the street, but always carries the return paper to demonstrate in the event of attempts to manipulate his demands in the future."

The political analyst predicted that the demonstrations would gradually fade, adding that "what the PA offered is a compromise for a future change, which will receive a response from the popular circles, which were rejecting and angry during the previous period."

The spokesman said that the insistence of the Authority on the extension of the first letter, and confirmed by the second "road map has been agreed upon for a while and at the highest level in the hierarchy of power, evidence that not to abandon this option despite all the pressures."

On the implications of the decisions made by the first letter, the spokesman said: "It came to reduce the functions of Bouteflika, who will lead the country in a transitional period."