Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Algeria: A Quiet Success Story in the Making

In the first week of March 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported on opposition movements rising in Algeria, following the protests rocking Tunisian, Egypt, and the rest of the Middle East.

Unlike the staunch opposition of President Mubarak before ultimately abdicating, and certainly in stark contrast to the violent opposition of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi against his own people, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika took the unprecedented steps of . . .meeting (some of) the demands of his frustrated people.

Bouteflika rearranged his ruling cabinet. More importanly, he has lifted the 19-year emergency laws which have long crippled the civil rights of Algerians. This crucial liberalizing move ends detention without trial for suspected terrorists, a practice notoriously abused by despotic states throughout the world.

The Algerian government has also instituted pay raises (for government workers) and reform in housing and employment.

After the Algerian president rescinded martial law, political parties have reassembled throughout the country, peacefully demonstrating against the government, despite the fact that he government will not allow citizens to lead political marches in Algiers, the capital city.

In the wake of the civil war tearing apart neighboring Libya, Algeria's political future may remain obscure, though its more peaceful development may not necessarily be in doubt. If nothing else, the Algerian people will do everything they can to avoid another fractious military conflict from dividing their country, like the civil wars of the early 1990s.

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