Algeria’s president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was present in public on Thursday, September 8, on an opening ceremony of a new international conference centre in Algiers. This is his first major apperance in public since the last presidential elections over two years ago. Bouteflika has been in office since 1999 but suffered a stroke in 2013 which impaired his ability to speak and move. Since then, he has rarely been seen publicly, limiting himself to short television appearances, which led to serious questions over his ability to hold the office of president.

The appearance has probably calculated to counter recent demands of early elections and prove that the president is still capable of ruling. However, due to Bouteflika’s medical condition and the opaque political structure of Algeria, known as le Pouvoir (‘the power’), power is not necessarily concentrated in president’s office. The president was accompanied by his brother, Said, who represents oligarchs whose influence has significantly risen, destabilising balance of power among the elites. This suggests that his position in government apparatus is considerable.

Algeria is currently in transition forced by falling hydrocarbon prices and endemic protests. Though the wave of Arab Spring had bypassed the country, largely due to memories of a civil war in the 1990s, the regime reacted to domestic pressures by nominally liberalising the political system. In 2016 the president dissolved the Intelligence and Security Department and replaced it with Security Service Department. This was presented as a move towards restraining repression apparatus, but it is also a part of struggles over political power in case of Bouteflika’s death or resignation.

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