There was never any doubt that Abdelaziz Bouteflika would emerge as the winner of Algeria’s presidential election in April. And it was correctly predicted that few Algerians would bother to vote. The country’s so-called ‘décideurs’ in the intelligence service again showed that they had learnt the lesson of 1991, when elections almost produced a parliament dominated by Islamists. That poll had been stopped in mid-track, plunging the country into a civil war which is now almost, but not quite, over. Since those days, the same group of men have been adept at preparing elections that produce desired results.



Having changed the constitution to abolish the two-term limit for presidents, Bouteflika looks likely to keep the top job until his death, barring incapacitation or a falling-out with his powerful allies in military intelligence. In similar vein, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Muammar Qadhafi of Libya have managed to avoid removal from office, the almost-inevitable consequences being the alienation of people from politics and the growth of corruption.



Briefly, in the 1990s, Algeria looked like it might find its way towards representative politics. The murderous confrontation between the military-backed authorities and the Islamists shook the state to its foundations and, ironically, created the space in which political parties could mobilise and promote their visions of what a future political dispensation might look like. But critics say, with some justification, that the parties were short-sighted and often manipulated. Identity issues, big egos and the weakness of the democratic tradition all tended to trip up the movement towards representative politics, which in the event was not even tested. The military opted to put a lid on everything, consigning the parties and political institutions to the margins.



Many Algerians credit Bouteflika with having restored peace through the amnesties he offered to those Islamic militants who surrendered. But security has never been Algeria’s only problem, being as it is a predominantly youthful country with poor-quality education and a severe shortage of jobs.



For the young, hope is still in very short supply. The refrain that “Algeria is rich, but Algerians are poor” is repeated time and again. No one expects the leader to wave a magic wand and solve all problems, but some important work has not begun. True, the government is investing in much-needed infrastructure and the country’s hydrocarbons wealth has hugely bolstered state coffers, but this is not enough for a country of 32m people who desperately need a better-functioning economy. The urge to total control exhibited by Bouteflika and his backers leaves little space for independent initiative. The result is a country whose population has abandoned politics and whose the young die in their hundreds trying to reach Europe on rickety boats.