Since February 22 there have been ongoing protests in Algeria to demand radical system change which included the demand for the removal of the aged president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In terms of numbers, the protests – on a weekly basis – drew 17 million plus  Algerians, in defiance of a ruling elite (called Le Pouvoir) guilty of corruption, nepotism, repression,  and social exclusion of the majority of Algerians. Bouteflika eventually agreed to, or was compelled to not stand for a fifth presidential term, but only after the crisis surrounding his presidency reached a point where his rule of 20 years , and those of his associates, could no longer be justified. This triggered a widespread and ongoing revolt across the entire country. Demonstrations in support of the Algerian cause also took place in Montreal as well as France.

Algeria is a country whose economy heavily relies on the petro-chemical (oil and gas) industries. It is economically closely tied to European countries as well as the USA, Russia and China. In the period 2014 – 2017 it was amongst the ten biggest producers of natural gas in the world. In the North African geo-political context there is currently heightened political friction and conflict in virtually all of its neighbouring countries: in Libya, imperialist and regional power blocs’ involvement is instrumental in the continued fracturing of the country. Similarly in Mali and Mauritania the enforcement of imperialism’s agenda by the French military and the UN, is tied to the Sahel region’s ongoing economic and political instability. Tunisia, in turn, has been experiencing continuous workers’ struggles in the wake of the 2011-2 Arab Spring uprisings. The Palestinian and Syrian struggles as well as war and repression in the Gulf States add to a picture of ongoing political turmoil.

The ruling FLN (National Liberation Front) party has seen its political dominance challenged over time. In the 1990s , the  emergence of the Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) posed an electoral threat to it, to the extent that the military-security establishment conducted a decade long campaign to defeat and neutralise the Islamists forces, with huge casualties. The historical forerunners of this security apparatus (the National Liberation Army, the military wing of the National Liberation Front) played a central role in the liberation of the country and today wields substantial political power. The military and security structures of the country e.g. the Military Intelligence Service (DRS) are part of networks that extend into government. There is thus a close link between military-security officials and the present government. The continuity of protest actions, as is the case in Sudan, is meant to deepen the crisis for the ruling class to the point where it, especially the military,  will be compelled to accede to protestors’ demands. In this regard, the broadening of the revolts in the region can have the effect of accelerating the demise of imperialist agents and dictators dressed up as democrats.

 The current wave of protests has exposed the manifold crises faced by the bourgeois ruling establishment which consists of institutionalised political parties, business people, the military top brass, trade union bureaucrats and government officials. The lack of legitimacy of the parliament amongst the majority, as well as the authoritarianism of the government, indeed demands that a new order be struggled for. The failure to continuously prop up Bouteflika represented a retreat for this elite. Their failure to have presidential elections in July 2019, according to article 102 of the constitution, was yet another setback. Their willingness to engage with the protest movement and not kill or lock them up, points to the movement currently having momentum which it can use to its advantage. The appeasement that underpins the arrests of certain high profile individuals did not soften the demands of the protestors for fundamental system change. Significantly, on 17/18 March, 13 Algerian trade unions said an emphatic “No” to the formation of a new government.(Al Jazeera News/Africa, 18 March 2019). The ‘system change’ demanded, is for an end to patriarchal oppression and for social equality, gainful youth employment and the like. The demand that all those involved in large scale corruption in the huge state owned energy company, Sonatrach be prosecuted and imprisoned, reflect a commitment for justice to be seen to be done.