Bouteflika left, but what role for the army?

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned following growing pressure from the people and the army. But how powerful is the Algerian army and what role could they play in the coming months as Algeria prepares for its elections?

"Algeria is an army that has a state … Tunisia is a state with an army," said Michel Ayari, an badyst at the International Crisis Group in North Africa, at VOA.

But to what extent is this generalization true? Algeria is currently undergoing its own reform after its regional neighbors completed their "Arab Spring" in 2011.

Many of these countries are still shocked by the after-effects and questions about whether, in fact, they are better than before.

Articles and badyzes abound today, highlighting parallels between Egypt and Algeria.

And it's not hard to see why.

In both cases, there is a president who is too comfortable with power and blind to the reality of the street. Until people talk, that's it. Their voices, however, were made audible only because the army did not intervene every time.

Egypt – Case A

In Egypt, the people took to the streets to ask Hosni Mubarak to resign from his presidency after being head of state for more than 30 years.

Images flooded the Internet and social media with people napping in army vehicles.

In this case, the army refused to support Mubarak and instead supported the people. After the resignation of Mubarak and the holding of elections, nearly a year after the new term of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the people once again took to the streets.

This time, they wanted to end the presidency of Morsi.

The army once again sided with the people, and the chief of staff of the time, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was praised by the people for saving the country from the Islamists, announcing that the army would guarantee the end of Morsi's mandate.

Some call this moment a second revolution, others a military coup.

But since then, the role of the Egyptian army has not been questioned.

Algeria – Case B

The case of Algeria is similar, but not the same.

"What we do not want is a Sisi or Egyptian scenario," says Latefa Narriman, an badociate researcher at the University of East London and a liaison officer for the Society for Algian Studies. "We do not want that and I do not think it will happen."

But what can not be avoided here is the fact that, like Egypt, the army is an integral part of the country.

"The Algerian army is quite powerful and its origins go back to independence, to the war of liberation against France," says Tahir Kilavuz of the University of Notre Dame, a specialist in regime change in the MENA region. special attention for Algeria.

He adds that the army was created essentially from the 1962 independence war and continued thereafter as an independent Algeria emerged.

"Even though the first president was a civilian, the army exercised strong control and, two or three years after independence, Algeria had its first coup d'etat and the general of the army, the chief of staff, became president at the time. who initiated the domination of the arm in Algeria, "explains Kilavuz.

Since then, the army "has always been one of the most important and important elements of the Algerian regime, alongside [the] the presidency and the party ". And this role for the army was particularly strengthened in 1992 when it intervened in elections likely to allow an Islamist party to take power.

This intervention plunged the country into a civil war. Abdelaziz Boutflika emerged from this civil war as an architect of peace after years of fighting in Algeria.

ANP – National Army of the People

"The army is a real power in Algeria, but the Algerian army is angry. It is not as if only the privileged could join the army, people could join the army. This is why we call it ANP, which is the National People's Army [National Popular Army in english]"Narriman explains.

Being able to join the army with a modest background already distinguishes it from other armies in the world where it is normally a privilege to join the ranks, especially with regard to upward mobility. It could be argued that this point humanizes the Algerian army.

Seize the day?

Boutflika himself appointed Ahmed Gaid Salah as chief of the army in 2004; his badociation with the former president therefore has some depth.

When the protesters took to the streets on February 22, demanding that Bouteflika not appear for a fifth term, Salah continued to support the president in difficulty.

But late last week, Salah called for the use of Article 102, a provision under which the Constitutional Court may declare the office of the President vacant if it is found unfit to rule.

Earlier this week, the army chief of staff called on the country's highest court and parliament to trigger the implementation of Article 102 of the constitution.

This placed him in a favorable position with the Algerian people.

When the Egyptian people demanded Morsi's resignation from power in 2013, Sisi issued an ultimatum to the Islamist president and told him in a conversation: "The army is following the will of the people and most of them. Between them, according to reports not want you. "

From that point on, Sisi was propelled to the fore as a supporter of the people.

And Salah, just like Sisi, managed to keep the army not only afloat, but popular.

An economic force

The army is not only a military power, but also an economic powerhouse.

"The [Algerian] the army is not only the military or political power, it is also an economic power [the] Algerian political system "explains Kilavuz.

As in Egypt, the economic presence of the military is embedded in most of the country's businesses.

"All big companies belong to a general or their children," says Narriman speaking of Egypt.

Moving forward

While Algeria is facing a new reality, it must, in accordance with its constitution, set up a transitional government of 90 days in the next elections.

Kilavuz says that it is very likely that the army will "try to conquer more power, if not maintain the status quo as much as possible," because the current movement is trying to put in place a more democratic system that means a complete overhaul of the system.

"The system is largely tied to the power of the army, so the army obviously does not want a complete transformation of the system," he adds, noting that there will be probably concessions to make the army.

Just as in Egypt, the people's call for change was answered, but this change took place via Sisi, a former chief of the army staff who retained the power of l & # 39; army.

Narriman says that the Algerian experience will be different. "First Gaida [Salah] is too old, he does not have the age of Sisi. I do not think he can plan his presidency. And second. . . I think that through the past, I would say ten years, the army [has] – through Gaid Salah – made so many statements that the army does not want to be involved[d] in politics more. "