A Cakewalk

The Algerian presidential campaign is dominated by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, substantively and visually. So vigorous has been his campaign that Boutelfika skipped the Arab Summit in Doha, sending FM Medelci instead. Others have attempted to initiate their own narratives — this is implicit in Hanoune’s, as she is a Trotskyite, and it is increasingly clear in Mohamed Said’s campaign, though he was an remains a relative unknown. Touati has for the most part tried to coopt Bouteflika’s platform using a different face, and Younsi and Rebiane have used their campaigns as platforms to attack the regime, with the former’s platform being the more dissident of the two, ideologically speaking. He are the dominant trends in Bouteflika’s campaign. Note that most of the candidates have followed this template as well, as the race is structured such that their efforts re-enforce Bouteflika’s dominant position. Such are “elections” in Algeria, and elsewhere.

WINEP on Algeria

From the Washington Institute on Near East Policy. Known for its [highly] partisan work on the Levant, it has yet produced several useful reports on North Africa, primarily with regards to Algeria and terrorism in North Africa. As American reportage and writing on North Africa is as a rule preoccupied with al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks in the region, it is refreshing to see reports dealing expressly with Algeria as it is and not in the context of some relatively contrived set of terminology that has little baring “on the ground”. Written by Dana Moss, known for her Libya work (readers may make of it what they will), the paper is titled “Elections in Algeria: Bouteflika Wins, Legitimacy Loses” and it is quite good. Beyond The Economist‘s gloomy but “stable” conclusion, Moss writes that the situation is stable in the short term but a lack of strong institutions and good governance make longer term prospects uncertain. I agree with this assessment.