Both Algeria and Egypt are run by a military-dominated elite that gave protesters, thirsty for freedom and democracy, the illusion of change. In a recent article on the Washington Post, Algerian protesters were asked to be careful not to repeat the mistakes that took place in Egypt in 2011 when protesters demanded and hoped for an overnight disappearance of the deep state elites. Algerian “protesters can avoid two key mistakes that were made in Egypt, first, by insisting on actual reforms and refusing to be appeased by the removal of regime personalities and, second, by not leaving the streets until their demands have been met,” reads the article dubbed Lessons for Algeria from the 2011 Egyptian uprising. The generational transition in Algeria is also posing a challenge to the regime as the figures that enjoy the legitimacy of being war veterans have died. Meanwhile, the army is warning of a Syrian scenario to thwart protesters.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 15, 2019 14:26 UTC