The Hirak’s peaceful, unified, and sustained pressure against Algeria’s military-dominated political system led to the ousting of Bouteflika and two cancelled presidential elections, before regime candidate, Abdelmajid Tebboune, won the December 2019 presidential elections, in which less than 24% of eligible Algerians participated amidst the Hirak’s call for a boycott. 2 Frederic Volpi, Algeria, “When Elections Hurt Democracy,” Journal of Democracy, Volume 31, Number 2, April 2020. This was largely the case throughout 2019 as the Hirak gathered millions of protesters in weekly demonstrations across Algeria, initially spurred by the cynical announcement of the candidacy for president of military-backed, aged, and seriously ill Abdelaziz Bouteflika for a fifth term. King, The Arab Winter: Democratic Consolidation, Civil War, and Radical Islamists (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020). 1 Elsewhere, I discuss the importance of sustained, cross-cutting mobilization in efforts to end military authoritarian rule. The Hirak, a massive popular protest movement for democracy in Algeria which began in February 2019 and continues to challenge military authoritarian rule in the country today, is most potent when it can sustain mass mobilization against the regime across cultural, ethnic, linguistic, ideological, class, and racial lines. Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window).Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window).Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window).
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