Algerian Opposition

Topic: Algerian Opposition

Abdallah Djaballah, leader of the Islamist FJD in front of party headquarters in Algeria (photo: AFP)

Algeria′s Islamists

Grasping at straws

Algeria′s myriad Islamist parties are either barred from the elections or internally divided over whether to support the government or join the opposition, limiting their chances of success. An analysis by Riccardo FabianiMore

Parliamentary elections in Algeria: It's hardly democracy Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations Conflict between Arabs and Berbers in Algeria: A social minefield

Men reading political party campaign posters on Martyrs′ Square in Algiers on 9 April 2017 (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Parliamentary elections in Algeria

It's hardly democracy

The parliamentary elections in Algeria on 4 May 2017 mark a political watershed. Even though the outcome of the elections is not expected to hold any big surprises, this time the regime’s credibility really is on the line. By Isabel SchaferMore

Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean The Maghreb: Why does the Algerian regime fear Rachad?

Unemployed men protest in front of the Ministry of Labour in Algiers (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Algeria′s disillusioned majority

Desperately seeking voters

Algeria's upcoming parliamentary poll is failing to spark the interest of the populace. Few have any hope that the discredited political class will provide solutions to the country′s pervasive social malaise. At the same time, a handful of dedicated civil society campaigns are focusing on initiating change at grassroots level. Sofian Philip Naceur reports from Algiers and OranMore

Parliamentary elections in Algeria: The corrupt, the apathetic and the disaffected Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations Conflict between Arabs and Berbers in Algeria: A social minefield Le Hic Facebook page

Public protests against the Algerian government′s economic policy under President Bouteflika (photo: FAROUK BATICHE/AFP/Getty Images)

Unrest in Algeria

Shaking the social foundations

Algeria′s austerity measures are driving protests among its previously acquiescent middle class and the state is hardening its stance against such unrest. An analysis by Idriss JebariMore

President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean Anti-fracking protests in Algeria: Revolution rising up from the desert?Citizenship law reform in Algeria: The tug-of-war over identity

Voting in the Algerian parliament (photo: Getty Images/AFP/F. Batiche)

Citizenship law reform in Algeria

The tug-of-war over identity

In July of this year the Algerian cabinet passed a controversial law allowing only those with ″exclusive Algerian nationality″ to hold high office. Report by Federica Zoja More

President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean The Maghreb: Why does the Algerian regime fear Rachad? Conflict between Arabs and Berbers in Algeria: A social minefield

Algerian author and journalist Kamel Daoud (photo: AFP/Getty Images/B. Langlois)

The Algerian writer Kamel Daoud

Who is the Arab man?

He has written about Albert Camus, the New Year’s Eve assaults in Cologne and the Arab man. He has had a ″fatwa″ issued against him and been accused of Islamophobia. At Germany's top literature festival, ″Lit.Cologne″, however, he was the man of the moment. By Sarah Judith HofmannMore

Book review: Kamel Daoud's "The Meursault Investigation": To kill an Arab New Year′s Eve assaults on women: The Cologne outcry Interview with Yasmina Khadra: "The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"

The ailing Algerian president, Abdelaziz (l.) receives the new head of the armed forces, Ahmed Gaid Salah (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future

The sick man of the Mediterranean

The ongoing struggle for power between Algeria′s president and the country′s secret service may for the time being have been won by Abdelaziz Bouteflika. But the question as to who holds the reins of power in Algeria remains. The president or the omnipresent armed forces? An analysis by Gianni del Panta More

Interview with Yasmina Khadra: "The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"The Maghreb: Why does the Algerian regime fear Rachad? Presidential election in Algeria: Out with the old, in with the old Anti-fracking protests in Algeria: Revolution rising up from the desert?

E-opposition rally in Algeria (photo: DW/Ben Chenouf Mahrez)

The Maghreb

Why does the Algerian regime fear Rachad?

In light of propaganda against the movement, media censorship, book banning and bogus Interpol arrest warrants against its founders, the regime clearly sees Rachad as a threat. But why? By Lakhdar Ghettas More

Interview with Yasmina Khadra: "The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"Algeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the status quo rather than experimentation Ethnic conflict in Algeria: A struggle for power and recognition

$Anti-fracking protests in Ain Salah (photo: Billal Bensalem/ABACAPRESS.COM)$

Anti-fracking protests in Algeria

Revolution rising up from the desert?

Unrest is steadily growing in Africa's largest nation. The latest protests take aim at controversial fracking projects in the desert town of Ain Salah. Details from Susanne KaiserMore

Ethnic conflict in Algeria: A struggle for power and recognition Interview with Yasmina Khadra: "The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"Algeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the Status Quo Rather than Experimentation

A harkis unit, Muslims recruited by the French for the battle against Algerian rebels, marches through an Algiers street in 1957 (photo: AFP)

Sixty years since the beginning of the Algerian war

National fronts?

The Algerian War began 60 years ago. Some eight years later, a new Arab nation came about – and a million Algerians of French origin fled to France. The recent successes of the extreme-right Front National have made these "pieds-noirs" a political factor again, as the fronts of the Algerian War retain contemporary relevance. By Jakob KraisMore

Literature and Collective Trauma in Algeria: Moving Beyond the Examination of History Interview with Benjamin Stora: The Bitter Legacy of Past Franco-Algerian Relations Literature and Collective Trauma in Algeria: Moving Beyond the Examination of History

Memorial march in Tizi Ouzou marking the crushing of a peaceful protest in the Kabylie region in 1980 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Ethnic conflict in Algeria

A struggle for power and recognition

Algeria's non-Arab minorities are up in arms. The ethnic conflict between Arabs and Berbers is weakening the already fragile stability of the Maghreb state. By Susanne KaiserMore

Algeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the Status Quo Rather than Experimentation Interview with the Algerian Singer Houria Aïchi: Ambassador of Chaouia Culture Photo gallery: The Conflict in Western Sahara – The Eternal Wait

Interview with Yasmina Khadra

"The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"

The renowned Algerian writer, Mohammed Moulessehoul, who goes by his pen name Yasmina Khadra, wanted to stand as an independent candidate for the presidency of Algeria. He funded his own campaign and criss-crossed the country seeking nomination. Unfortunately, he only managed to win the support of 43,000 people, 17,000 short of the minimum number needed to be able to contest the election. Regina Keil-Sagawe spoke to the author about his campaign and about the situation in AlgeriaMore

Presidential election in Algeria: Out with the old, in with the old Algeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the Status Quo Rather than Experimentation Interview with the Algerian Novelist Yasmina Khadra: "There Is a Life after Defeat"

Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (right) inspecting a military guard in Algiers (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Presidential election in Algeria

Out with the old, in with the old

On 17 April, Algeria goes to the polls to elect a new president. However, it seems as if the new president will be the old one: Abdelaziz Bouteflika. But even though the outcome seems like a foregone conclusion, political resistance is forming. By Kersten KnippMore

Algerian Paralysis: Bouteflika's Uncertain Future Interview with Werner Ruf: "Algeria is a Thoroughly Corrupt Country"Literature and Collective Trauma in Algeria: Moving Beyond the Examination of History

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika at the People's Palace in the capital Algiers on April 15, 2013 (photo: Farouk Batiche/AFP/Getty Images)

Algerian Paralysis

Bouteflika's Uncertain Future

The future of ailing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has not been settled – and the nation's powerful figures are nervous. The country is still puzzling over the question of who might succeed him. By Christoph ErhardtMore

Algeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the Status Quo Rather than Experimentation Interview with Werner Ruf: "Algeria is a Thoroughly Corrupt Country"Algerian Writer Boualem Sansal: What the Tragedy in Algeria Has Taught Us

Interview with the Algerian Women's Rights Activist Nadia Ait Zai

''We need to completely change the system of government''

The recent parliamentary election in Algerian has made little difference to the balance of political power. One thing, however, is new: there are now suddenly five times as many female members of parliament. Martina Sabra asked the Algerian lawyer and women's rights activist Nadia Ait Zai about what was behind this change, and about prospects for the futureMore

Interview with the Algerian Journalist Adlène Meddi: The Illusion of Democratic Elections Algeria and the Arab Spring: Opting for the Status Quo Rather than Experimentation Boualem Sansal: What the Tragedy in Algeria Has Taught Us

Anti-government protests in Algeria (photo: dpa)

Algeria and the Arab Spring

Opting for the Status Quo Rather than Experimentation

In spite of strikes and protest campaigns, until now there have been no uprisings in Algeria comparable to those in other Arab states. The fact that a large percentage of the population consists of young people who are unhappy with the government is still not an adequate prerequisite for mass protest, writes Sigrid Faath in her analysisMore

Boualem Sansal: What the Tragedy in Algeria Has Taught Us Politics and the Economy in Algeria: Feeding off the Rentier Economy Qantara Dossier: The Arab Spring