● Algeria – presidential resignation
In a political earthquake in North Africa, longtime Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned earlier this month after 20 years in power. The frail 82-year-old's attempt to run for a fifth term had set off massive protests and strikes against corruption and the government's authoritarianism. Protesters, many of whom are young, have been calling for widespread changes to Algeria's system of government, under which the National Liberation Front (FLN) has been in power almost without interruption since the country gained independence from France in 1962.
Campaign ActionThe last time Algeria held genuine multiparty elections was in 1991, which saw the Islamic Salvation Front poised to oust the much more secular FLN from power after the first round of voting. The military, however, initiated a coup that canceled the runoffs and annulled the elections, leading to a decade of civil war and the deaths of 100,000 to 200,000 people. With military support, Bouteflika ascended to the presidency in the opposition-boycotted 1999 election, and the FLN and its allies have maintained a chokehold on power ever since.
Although Algeria saw widespread protests when the initial Arab Spring demonstrations swept the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, the political and economic reforms imposed to quell them did little to undermine Bouteflika's grasp on power. That background makes this year's ouster of the president even more remarkable given that the Arab Spring revolutions collapsed in a reversion to authoritarianism or catastrophic civil war everywhere except in neighboring Tunisia.
While elections will likely follow at some undetermined point, it remains to be seen whether they will truly be free and fair. The military still retains significant power, and protesters are demanding far-reaching changes that would threaten its control in this nation of 42 million people.
from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2KfJVXq
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