North African dispatches: Why Algeria is different

He’s gone! Pharaoh finally understood he was the problem. Better yet, Hosni Mubarak finally managed to find a safe exit through which he, his family and, most importantly, his finances could make a run for it!

With his departure, Egypt breathes again. In fact, the Arab street as a whole celebrated the success of the Egyptian revolution. For weeks, the entire region was there to witness history unfold as millions of Egyptians took to the streets and in a truly heroic movement deposed the seemingly unshakable autocrat. In the euphoria which followed Mubarak’s departure, the army seized power and promised to go ahead with reforms demanded by the protestors. Mubarak had done the same following Sadat’s assassination, and one cannot help but fear the possibility of a regime perpetuating itself through the sacrifice of its figurehead.

Throughout the revolt, the army’s lukewarm support for the revolution and its tardy rally to the cause are greater causes for concern than celebration. Surely the end of Mubarak is not the end of the system nor is it the start of the democracy which the movement’s founders probably envision. Revolutions are often confiscated by those who join them last. Egyptians, like the Tunisians before them, should not stop at this success and make the fight for democracy a daily struggle!

Whilst Egypt rejoiced, nearby Algeria stood in anticipation at the call for pro-democracy protests on 12 February. A coordination made up of several members of civil society and political parties called for a rally on Algiers’s 1 May square and throughout the nation, hoping to emulate the wind of change blowing through the region. Despite high ambitions to mobilise, they were somewhat left short, with only a few thousand showing up.

Why was this case? Algeria has always been a land of rebels, the ‘Mecca for revolutions and revolutionaries’. In the 1960s, it emerged an independent nation following an atrocious war with the French coloniser, which gained it a sobriquet as the land of the ‘1.5 million martyrs’. In 1988, a recession-hit Algeria witnessed events comparable to those which recently took place in Egypt and Tunisia. Millions of Algerians took to the streets in nationwide riots and protests to demand the end of the FLN’s (National Liberation Front) one-party rule and reclaim their political and socio-economic rights.

In this respect, Algeria is the unrecognised antecedent to much of the revolts we are now witnessing. The rise of an Islamist tsunami and the coming to power of the army, as a result of cancelled democratic elections, would sadly put an end to an unparalleled – and short-lived – period of democracy. The North African nation quickly plunged into a tragic decade of violence and Algerians were left profoundly scarred from a civil war of unmatched brutality, widespread terror and complete paranoia.

Today, the country’s problems remain multiple and complex but stem from a reality easily observed: Algeria is rich, Algerians are not. Whilst macro-economic indicators are green, social and human development indicators show bright red. Home to considerable oil and gas reserves, Algeria has yet to rid itself of an exclusive reliance on primary sector exports to generate growth. This has simultaneously created a dangerously heavy dependency on importation. In 12 years, Algeria has made a whopping US$600 billion in benefits from its oil industry, with not much to show for it. Salaries are low, unemployment is high and inequality continues to grow, despite figures which state otherwise.

Despite efforts to restore state investment aimed at infrastructure and education, money is often poorly spent or squandered. The plague of corruption and nepotism recently materialised in the eyes of the public when the country’s economic pillar, SONATRACH (a petroleum company), was found to be riddled with handouts and shady dealings amongst officials.

Finally, the bureaucracy continues to be a burdensome, onerous and tedious labyrinth stifling the formation of capital and the encouragement of innovation. Start-ups that do flourish do so under the state’s watchful eye, which inevitably hinders the chance for job creation. Doctors, teachers and the civil service therein rely on very low wages compared to other economies where capital is created as opposed to simply distributed.

Finally, no real diversification to other resource-generating sectors was ever undertaken and the country’s shy industrialisation has always been subjected to petty ideological battles and superfluous regional favouritism. In this climate, Algeria’s economy and stability continue to be tributary to international oil and gas prices, as well as that of basic foodstuffs.

As recently as December, countrywide riots broke-out in response to sharp increases in the prices of cooking oil and sugar. In a country where many struggle to make ends meet, slight increases in basic food prices easily provoke the ire of the underprivileged. The Algerian press often mentions that in the sole year of 2010, 10,000 riots and protests took place throughout the country. More than anything, there is the imperative for housing. Riots also regularly break out over unjustly distributed public housing as it has become a fundamental frustration in the day-to-day well-being of many families.

Why then did Algerians, in this apparently negative environment, not march by the hundreds of thousands under the circumstances? For one, there is the fear of violence breaking out. The government mobilised for the occasion a daunting arsenal of helicopters and the odd-30,000 anti-riot police in the capital, a sign that nothing was being left to chance in the higher echelons of the country’s polity.

Despite a recent promise to lift the country’s 19-year state of emergency, protestors were frigidly reminded that protests were not authorised in the capital Algiers. With trains suspended and all major access routes carefully monitored, any sort of movement from neighbouring counties was rendered impossible. All of these measures obliviously made for a particularly tense build up which evidently left many wondering, whether it was worth putting one’s own security at risk.

The tragic reality for Algerians today is that no political party or figure seems able enough of rallying then aptly voicing grievances around one truly coherent set of political objectives (i.e., change!). This problem originates primarily in the political elite’s inability or unwillingness to rejuvenate it. Both the opposition and government boast figures at the other end of the country’s demographic make-up. With a population among the world’s youngest – the average Algerian being 24 – any political figure over the age of 50 talking of ‘change we can believe in’ is bound to seem out of touch or irrelevant.

All of these observations bring me to the final possible reason behind Saturday’s meagre showing. This movement for change does not yet resonate to a majority because it might appear, with the presence of certain political parties and/or figures, as another venture through which they may gain greater exposure. Though intense grievances exist in the country, Algerians continue to be highly sceptical of political parties – whether they are of the opposition or not. They are seen as self-serving or in league with the powers that be, thereby rendering their actions legitimate to audiences already acquired to their beliefs.

Young Algerians remain desperate for change, thirsty for a better life and disenchanted with their overall situation. Politics and ideology aside, they aspire to nothing more than dignity and a visionary project for their society. For some it can come through economic accomplishment and personal stability. For others it is a sense of belonging and a renewed trust in the country’s politics. Over the past weeks, the attempts by over a dozen people to immolate themselves publicly served as a bleak reminder to all of the profound malaise felt throughout vast sections of the nation. In this context, while many will continue to debate over the success/failure of Saturday’s march, what is certain is that the march broke a long-standing taboo of challenging the status quo.

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* Imad Mesdoua writes weekly on African and Maghreb affairs for Ceasefire. His interests include politics, current affairs and Real Madrid F.C.
* This article was first published by Ceasefire.
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