The authorities were probably aware that a bid for a fifth term would be unpopular. For Zoubir Arous, a sociologist at the University of Algiers 2, the architects of the bid for a fifth term “have made a big error”. “Even if democracy is not a very rooted notion, Algeria is a republic” and not a dynastic system, Dris-Ait Hamadouche said. While protesters initially shouted the slogan “no to a fifth term”, many have since called for a change of regime. “The first aim is the withdrawal of Bouteflika’s candidacy.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 28, 2019 04:52 UTC