Algeria has entered a period of uncertainty as the mandate of its interim president expired on Tuesday and the head of the military assumes an increasing presence in the face of mass protests.
Former interim president Abdelkader Bensalah assumed office for a period of 90 days after his ailing predecessor, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was essentially forced from office after the army sided with the popular protest movement sparked by his decision to seek a fifth term in April.
Under his constitutional mandate, Mr Bensalah’s primary responsibility was to organise fresh elections. However, faced with a groundswell of popular protest against the state, his initial offer to stage a new vote was firmly rejected by a protest movement that has come to regard the country's entire electoral mechanism as corrupt.
Army chief Lt Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah has emerged as the primary interlocutor of the regime and the principal voice in determining internal policy. Many of the figures close to the former regime have been arrested on corruption charges under his watch, while prominent figures within the protest movement have been arrested.
Throughout the popular protests, the state has clung on to the country’s constitution as the ultimate arbiter of its legitimacy, citing it with each political manoeuvre as justification for whatever action it undertakes. Now, as it moves beyond its traditional framework, with Mr Bensalah's constitutional mandate expired, the future is uncertain.
“With no constitutional path left, the only solution now is dialogue between the protesters and the regime,” said Doctor Sharan Grewal of the Brookings Institute. “But the protesters are in no mood to negotiate while remnants of Mr Bouteflika’s regime remain in power."
However, with the final public vestiges of former President Bouteflika's regime still clinging to power, any compromise between protesters and the regime must reach beyond the corruption of the present. “As a precondition to talks, the regime will almost certainly have to remove Mr Bensalah and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui and replace them with consensus candidates, likely former statesmen who served prior to the Bouteflika regime,” Dr Grewal said.
Responding to the groundswell of criticism accusing him of usurping civil authority, Gen Gaid Salah used a prize-giving ceremony on Wednesday to slam those calling for the army to make way as “traitors,” acting under the orders of “circles hostile to Algeria”.
Also on Wednesday, large-scale protests broke out in the capital, Algiers, as demonstrators rallied outside the central court, calling for the release of prisoners of conscience. They including high-profile veteran of the war of independence, Lakhdar Bouregaa, who was arrested, according to his grandson, for speaking out against Gen Gaid Salah’s political ambitions.
The most recent series of arrests are said to have occurred on Monday night in Tlemcen, a city around 500 kilometres west of the capital, with three protesters detained over the previous weekend’s unrest. All three were subsequently charged with “contributing to weakening the army’s morale” and “insulting authorities”. According to their defence team, the security services had photographed them during Friday’s protests carrying banners critical of Gen Gaid Salah and chanting slogans against him.
Others have been arrested for carrying the flag of the indigenous Amazigh minority, which was outlawed on June 19 on the grounds that its use is an "attack on national unity".
Journalist Ghada Hamrouche told The National that she believed that, after the long series of concessions given to the protest movement, the army had essentially run out of options and were now seeking to sow division within the protest movement as "they do not have many cards left to play".
Ms Hamrouche said that relentless pressure from the street had forced attitudes within Algeria’s political class to change, prompting them to seek a compromise with protesters and set a new date for elections, free from the political interference that has dogged previous polls.
While that remains absent, unrest is continuing to grow against a regime that many regard as ruling without either an electoral mandate or a sound constitutional basis.
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Honeymoonish
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Fixtures (6pm UAE unless stated)
Saturday Bournemouth v Leicester City, Chelsea v Manchester City (8.30pm), Huddersfield v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm), Manchester United v Crystal Palace, Stoke City v Southampton, West Bromwich Albion v Watford, West Ham United v Swansea City
Sunday Arsenal v Brighton (3pm), Everton v Burnley (5.15pm), Newcastle United v Liverpool (6.30pm)
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km
Bio
Born in Dibba, Sharjah in 1972.
He is the eldest among 11 brothers and sisters.
He was educated in Sharjah schools and is a graduate of UAE University in Al Ain.
He has written poetry for 30 years and has had work published in local newspapers.
He likes all kinds of adventure movies that relate to his work.
His dream is a safe and preserved environment for all humankind.
His favourite book is The Quran, and 'Maze of Innovation and Creativity', written by his brother.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
more from Janine di Giovanni
MATCH INFO
New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)
England 155 (19.5 ovs)
New Zealand win by 21 runs
The specs: 2018 Renault Megane
Price, base / as tested Dh52,900 / Dh59,200
Engine 1.6L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission Continuously variable transmission
Power 115hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 156Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.6L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km