Algerian Tebboune seeks re-election, touts win

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who took over as Algeria’s president amid massive pro-democracy protests, is touting his achievements as he seeks another term. Yet some say real change is still lacking, five years after the movement faded.

The Hirak protests, which led to the ouster of long-serving autocratic President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019, aimed to push for comprehensive political reform.

Tebboune, a minister under Bouteflika, took over the presidency in December of that year after a widespread boycott of the elections. The movement was suppressed and its leaders imprisoned.

As he campaigns for the September 7 elections, Tebboune says he has managed to right the country’s past wrongs with broad successes and promises even more if re-elected.

Despite more than 100 weeks of demonstrations, Tebboune “has rejected the democratic transition demanded by millions of citizens,” said Hasni Abidi, an Algerian analyst at the Geneva-based CERMAM Study Center.

According to Abidi, a change of leadership alone was not enough to bring about a “new era”, despite Tebboune’s frequent references to a “new Algeria”.

Even as his first term draws to a close, Tebboune said he continued to “struggle to bring about profound changes.”

Algeria-based political commentator Mohamed Hennad said this change must be primarily political in nature.

“As long as political issues are not resolved legitimately, any economic, cultural or diplomatic discourse is merely a distraction,” he told AFP.

The Hirak movement disappeared with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, accompanied by a large-scale crackdown on protesters. Hundreds were arrested and dozens remain in custody or are still being prosecuted, according to the prisoners’ rights group CNLD.

‘We have suffered a lot’

Since taking office, Tebboune has claimed to have put Algeria back on track. He frequently refers to Bouteflika’s final years in power as the “mafia decade,” when power over the oil-rich country was concentrated in the hands of a “gang.”

During his time in office, several businessmen, ministers and politicians of the time, including Bouteflika’s brother Said, were convicted of corruption and imprisoned.

Tebboune also says he has successfully transformed Algeria into an emerging economy, which is now the third largest in Africa.

However, Abidi points out that Tebboune’s success is due to a “favorable international environment”, as the war between Ukraine and Russia has pushed up natural gas prices, to the benefit of Algeria, the continent’s largest exporter.
This economic windfall allowed Tebboune to “make speeches about local interests, steeped in populism,” Abidi said, with promises of free housing, minimum wage increases and higher social pensions.

At a recent rally in Oran, Tebboune pledged to create 450,000 jobs and increase monthly unemployment benefits if re-elected.

Unemployment benefits, which started in 2022, currently amount to 13,000 dinars ($97) for those aged 19 to 40. Tebboune has promised to increase this to 20,000 dinars, currently the minimum wage.

Despite these promises, critics say social and economic progress under Tebboune has been slow.

But the president often defends his record by saying he achieved his achievements despite “a war against Covid-19 and corruption” after the Hirak movement.

Abdelhamid Megunine, a 20-year-old student from Algiers, remembers that period with bitterness.

“We have suffered a lot,” he told AFP. “Prices and the cost of living have gone up since then.”

Although Algeria’s economy has grown by about 4% over the past two years and foreign exchange reserves amount to $70 billion, the country is still heavily dependent on oil and gas.

Hydrocarbon exports account for about 95% of the North African country’s hard currency earnings, which are crucial to sustaining social assistance programs.

Diplomacy

In foreign policy, Tebboune’s tenure had both successes and challenges.

Algeria gained international attention in January when it became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, a country that has been a strong advocate for Palestinian rights on the Council.

However, relations with neighbouring countries, particularly Morocco, have deteriorated, mainly due to the ongoing conflict over Western Sahara.

Algeria, a staunch supporter of the pro-independence Polisario Front, severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in August 2021 following escalating tensions over Western Sahara and Rabat’s decision to normalise relations with Israel.

Relations with France, already tense due to its colonial past, have also recently taken a hit.

Last month, French President Macron said Morocco’s autonomy plan is the only solution for Western Sahara, which is still considered a “non-self-governing” territory by the United Nations.

Algiers responded by withdrawing its ambassador from France, a move the government condemned as “a step never before taken by any other French government.”