Algeria On The Threshold Of A New Stage!

Events have accelerated dramatically over the last few hours, with many signs of the end of the state of congestion, which depicts the national political scene complexities, and which reached the extent of a looming storm of the “civil disobedience” drive now harboring the imagination of the Algerians.

The first event was the return of President Bouteflika from his therapeutic trip to the Swiss city of Geneva. The second was the speech of the Deputy Minister of Defense, the Army chief of staff of the National Popular Army, Major General Ahmed Gaid Salah and the third pertains to the statements made by the campaign manager of the candidate Bouteflika, namely Abdelghani Zaalane compounded by the statement of the National Liberation Front (FLN), which appealed to the Algerians to end the ongoing “civil disobedience” drive.

The last three elements, divided into one, point to the imperious need to live up to the basic demand raised by millions of Algerians who went out massively on the streets expressly urging President Bouteflika to relinquish his candidacy for a fifth term.

For his part, Major General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who delivered a speech yesterday, before the officers of the first military region, was not like its predecessors.

The speech included an unprecedented commending of the Algerians and praise for their historical relationship with the ANP Army.

“The Algerian people and their army are linked by all the elements of friendship, sympathy, solidarity and are united in the future vision towards the homeland”, he noted.

It also did not include any reference to phrases that could be interpreted by some agitators, notably those evoking the turmoil of the 1990s and its tragedies in the collective conscience of the Algerians, a message that could arrive quickly and without complications to those eager to hear it.

The Directorate of the electoral campaign of President Bouteflika was present yesterday, at a meeting held at the Riyadh Hotel, on the west coast of Algiers culminating in a lame statement made by its manager Abdelghani Zaalane.

The most important and noteworthy thing was the greetings he sent to the massive popular rallies that have swept the country over the last three weeks.

Zaalane argued that the fifth mandate no longer has a place in the coming days, adding that “President Bouteflika did not use words difficult to understand,” in his message addressed to the Algerians on the day of submission of his candidacy file at the level of the Constitutional Council but this didn’t placate the widespread protest movement.

When Zaalane says that President Bouteflika did not use words that are difficult to understand, this is an acknowledgment by the senior official of the fifth mandate campaign that the latter no longer has a place on the agenda, as evidenced by the ever-boiling street protests waged against the fifth term.

But the message, which was stronger than others, was issued on Sunday by the National Liberation Front party in which the FLN talked about its involvement in ongoing contacts with other political parties, in order to find a way out of the current crisis gripping the country, while referring to “the popular protests as a gain for the Algerians”.

The party’s manifesto talked about the launch of an endeavor together with “all political parties to wriggle out of this crisis with minimal damage, by taking into account national interests and maintaining a peaceful protest movement to ensure security and stability”, a move that was not initiated until after the country steeped into advanced stage of antagonism between the supporters of the fifth term and their opponents,

To all intents and purposes, the floated idea of civil disobedience has confused the power establishment and upset Algerians because of its dreaded repercussions on their daily lives and the stability and security of the country.

All these indicators are added to the President’s return on Sunday from his medical treatment trip in Switzerland, and this prompted analysts to believe that decisive presidential action could be taken from the day of his return.

The pivotal decisions cannot be taken by the first magistrate of the country outside the national territory, because this contingency might raise questions about the legitimacy of such decisions.