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Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#28226: Feb 23rd 2019 at 9:47:55 PM

Good news with the White Helmets.

Around 100 of them are settled in the UK after passing through Jordan and vetted by law enforcement.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28227: Feb 26th 2019 at 6:07:15 PM

Algeria is having protests now against the prospect of Bouteflicka seeking another term. Not much coverage though.

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#28228: Mar 1st 2019 at 2:34:39 AM

Update from Sudan.

Ahmed Mohamed Haroun is taking over the NCP since Bashir left the post as head of the party.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28229: Mar 1st 2019 at 5:13:43 PM

He's like an onion. Each layer of the state he removes, he gets more....raw.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28230: Mar 6th 2019 at 8:49:03 PM

Western media seems to be paying more attention to the protests against the shuffling zombie that is Bouteflika. The BBC is openly wondering how a guy who suffered a stroke five years ago and is chair-bound and is hardly ever seen can run the country. They figure (as we as a forum did, back during his last election) that The Powers That Be of Algeria (military, business interests, even the official opposition) basically can't decide who can succeed him.

I said it last time and I will say it this time, if he dies and they don't have someone waiting in the wings by then (and it can happen at any time) I can see Algeria having some...ah....interesting....times.

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#28231: Mar 8th 2019 at 12:58:53 AM

He’s already warning against anyone trying to influence the opposition with the protests.

I do wonder how he can fit to run when he’s been hospitalized for quite a while.

Shame too since he did end the civil war... This’ll just tarnish his name.

Edited by Ominae on Mar 8th 2019 at 12:59:05 PM

Zarastro Since: Sep, 2010
#28233: Mar 9th 2019 at 9:10:17 PM

And that is how a princess is treated by system. Imagine how it must be for everyone else... .

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28234: Mar 11th 2019 at 7:10:05 PM

Bouteflika has given up on a fifth term.

However, he has also promised a constitutional convention with no specific date and without much details as what a new constitution is going to do different than the current one.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28235: Mar 20th 2019 at 1:04:40 PM

People think now him calling for a constitutional convention and cancelling elections is just him trying to extend his term. Head of the FLN ruling party and the Army have both said they support the protesters.

I dunno how he hangs on any further.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28236: Mar 26th 2019 at 8:16:01 AM

Well if the Army's slipping wasn't clear before, it is clear now: the Algerian Army Chief wants Bouteflika declared unfit to rule, it seems.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#28237: Mar 26th 2019 at 10:06:52 AM

Oh boy.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#28238: Mar 26th 2019 at 10:04:45 PM

I'm assuming that the rank and file have no particular loyalty to the President, and will follow their superiors if/when the time comes?

If that is the case, he's finished, right?

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#28239: Mar 31st 2019 at 9:01:51 PM

A new government is coming into power in Algeria.

Nothing is know if the man himself will eventually leave though.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28240: Mar 31st 2019 at 9:54:47 PM

[up][up]Sorry I missed it, but yes. The only reason it wasn't immediate is because the army is about as distrusted (due to the events of 1990) as he is.

[up]Any idea on who they are?

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#28241: Mar 31st 2019 at 10:00:42 PM

  • Sabri Boukadoum: New Foreign Minister
  • Mohamed Arkab: New Energy Minister
  • Mohamed Loukal: New Finance Minister (Used to be head of Bank of Algeria)


  • Abdelaziz Bouteflika: Still Defense Minister
  • Gen Ahmed Gaed Salah: Still Army Chief —> He's the one in the military who's calling for Bouteflika to get out.

PS - The new ones aren't officially appointed yet, but they're unofficially going to take over those portfolios.

Edited by Ominae on Mar 31st 2019 at 10:01:20 AM

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28242: Apr 1st 2019 at 4:46:20 AM

Seems like a band aid, if defense and army positions aren't changing....

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#28243: Apr 1st 2019 at 8:21:28 PM

Indeed, but BBC's reporting that the man himself will step down soon before his mandate is up.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28244: Apr 2nd 2019 at 4:44:25 PM

And it's done. He has resigned with immediate effect. The head of the upper chamver, a Bouteflika ally, will be interrim president for the next 90 days. Protesters are calling for the entire ruling class to be abolished in favor of a transitional council.

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#28245: Apr 3rd 2019 at 7:26:29 AM

[up] Welp. That happened then.

Do you think we're going to see a transitional Government? Do you think the Government is going to maintain power? Or are the ingredients in place for something like a civil war?

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
Kevan from Somewhere, like most. Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
#28246: Apr 3rd 2019 at 7:38:41 AM

Hard to say, as always with Algeria. Weirdly, the authoritarian junta controlling the country is also, in some ways, a shield against islamism. I don't think they will actually give up power, just give the people a more fashionable puppet leader, maybe use the wave of populism so successful in the world right now. But if they actually loosen their grasp on the nation politic, then the actual democrats will probably have to deal with the various regressive or downright terrorist groups (like AQMI) that have been dormant since the civil war.

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#28247: Apr 3rd 2019 at 8:13:01 AM

I don't think that's it. If I remember correctly, Algeria was one of the biggest exporters of foreign fighters to ISIS, and there have been large contingents from repressed Muslim communities like the Chechens and the Uyghurs as well.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28248: Apr 3rd 2019 at 9:56:38 AM

Yeah they kind of overdo the "shield against Islamism" schtick to the point of giving it more power in the underground.

Anyway, on the matter of whether a transitional government will come through, it would depend on if there are any well-known Algerian technocrats who aren't affiliated with The Powers That Be. The only name I've heard tossed around in that regard is Lakhdar Brahimi, but he is a former foreign minister of Algeria and he was also asked by Bouteflika to oversee the constitutional convention, so I dunno if that disqualifies him or not. He is also quite old.

There is another issue, a sort of chicken or the egg problem in the demands the protesters are making. They generally want free and fair elections and also a constitutional convention to create a completely new constitution for Algeria. The problem comes from which should happen first. If they hold elections under the current system, the fear is the regime will only allow people considered part of The Powers That Be (even among the official opposition) to take part. If they have the convention first, the people in charge will be able to forge it to benefit themselves again.

Then, of course, there is the underlying issue that is girding the protests in the first place: High unemployment and a badly done centrally-planned, oil-based economy. If that issue isn't resolved, they could have the best statesman the world has ever seen and still come to nothing.

The regime has less and less cards to play. They gave up Bouteflika's reelection. Then they gave up Bouteflika himself. They can't really resign en masse if there is no one to take up the reigns (and frankly, it is not in their self interest to do so even if there was). My concern is they will eventually conclude that they can't meet the demands of the protesters any further and will want to put it down by force, banking on the international community keeping mum lest they get a rehash of the Algerian Civil War on their hands or something akin to Libya's situation.

TLDR, if they can't find credible Algerians from outside the system and find a fix to the economy, there is nothing stopping this from getting worse as the regime's only leverage at this point is the military (at least, short of completely changing how they've done things til now and they magically fix the economy immediately, which is...unlikely).

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28249: Apr 4th 2019 at 8:50:28 AM

Some news from neighboring Libya: Field Marshal Haftar has launched a surprise offensive on GNA-controlled Tripolitania, with the explicit goal of finishing off the war once and for all.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#28250: Apr 6th 2019 at 3:08:24 PM

The BBC is reporting that Haftar's forces have reached the capital outskirts. Washington Post is reporting that he's fighting with the city milita for control of the airport. Mixed reporting abounds over how well or poorly this offensive is going overall.


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