Algeria’s president is ailing and its ruling cabal is playing for time. The country is in desperate need of renewal
candidates for president must prove that they are in command of their senses. In Algeria, for example, they are required to register in person. But that rule apparently does not apply to Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the ailing president, who was lying in a Swiss hospital bed when his campaign manager filed papers this month for him to run for re-election. Mr Bouteflika—or his coterie—is hoping he will win a fifth five-year term on April 18th.
But the price has been high. The elite evokes the civil war, and the threat of jihadism, to justify a ruthless regime. A 19-year-old state of emergency was lifted in 2011, but political speech is still restricted, the media are muzzled and critics of the government are harassed. The authorities lock up people using vaguely worded bans on “inciting an unarmed gathering” and “insulting a government body”. State institutions, such as the parliament and judiciary, are rubber stamps.
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