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From Sudan to Algeria, where protest movements have led to the dismissal of the presidents of the two countries in power, Iraq and Lebanon, which are experiencing unprecedented popular movements.
Here is a reminder of the protest movements in the Arab world and in Iran since the end of 2018.
In 2011, the “Arab Spring” led to the fall of the regimes of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
To this day, Tunisia is still the only country to continue the process of democratic transition. In other countries like Syria, Yemen and Libya, protest movements against the authorities have turned into ongoing wars.
Sudan
On December 19, 2018, hundreds of Sudanese protested against the threefold increase in the price of bread. The protests became weekly and quickly demanded the departure of Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled for 30 years.
On April 6, 2019, the protest movement turned into a sit-in in Khartoum in front of the army headquarters.
On the 11th of this month, the army kidnapped al-Bashir and a transitional military council was formed. However, thousands of demonstrators continued their sit-ins outside the army headquarters, describing what had happened as a “coup”.
Armed men in military uniforms dispersed the sit-in on June 3.
After negotiations, in mid-August, an agreement was signed between the army and the leaders of the protest, negotiated by Ethiopia and the African Union.
Sudan has formed a sovereign council which includes a majority of civilians and is headed by a military man to oversee a transition period of more than three years which is supposed to lead to elections.
The crackdown on protesters left more than 250 dead, according to a committee of doctors close to the protest movement.
Algeria
On February 22, mass protests began against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s candidacy for a fifth term, after his health deteriorated since he suffered a stroke in 2013.
On April 2, Bouteflika resigned under pressure from the streets and the army.
However, demonstrators continued to take to the streets in large numbers every Friday, insisting on the departure of all symbols of the “regime” inherited from two decades of successive reigns from Bouteflika, including Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah has become the strongman of the country.
However, this did not prevent the presidential elections of December 12, and despite a record abstention rate, Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected president.
Egypt
On September 20, hundreds of people demonstrated in Cairo and other cities to demand the departure of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who has ruled the country since 2014. A night sit-in was held in the capital on Tahrir Square, symbol of the 2011 revolution that overthrew former President Mubarak.
The unexpected protests erupted under the Sisi regime’s crackdown, after a businessman living in exile posted videos accusing the president of corruption.
A week later, there were limited protests.
Since September 20, nearly four thousand people, including lawyers and academics, have been arrested.
Iraq
After appeals on social media, Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad and the south of the country from October 1 to 6 against corruption, unemployment and the deterioration of public services.
The protests ceased during Hussein’s quarantine, then resumed on the evening of October 24, on the eve of the first anniversary of the inauguration of Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government.
The protests have gathered momentum with massive rallies in Baghdad and the south calling for “the fall of the regime.” The protests have caused the closure of schools and departments. As the repression continued and intensified.
Protesters were exposed to neighboring Iran, which wields influence in Iraq, and protesters torched its consulate.
On December 1, the House of Representatives accepted the government’s resignation. A prime minister was appointed in early February to form a new government.
Although the movement has calmed down, hundreds of protesters are still taking to the streets to demand a new political class and reform of the system.
The toll of the repression of demonstrations and acts of violence has reached about 550 people and 30,000 injured, according to an official toll.
Lebanon
On October 17, the government announced a tax on calls made through Internet messaging applications, amid a severe economic crisis. This measure, although it was later withdrawn, sparked the anger of the Lebanese, who immediately took to the streets.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese gathered in Beirut and Tripoli to the north, as well as Tire to the south or Baalbek to the east, to demand the departure of a ruling class seen as corrupt and incompetent. And many highways are closed.
On October 29, Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned.
A new government led by Hassan Diab was formed on January 21, but it has not satisfied the streets.
Iran
On November 15, demonstrations took place in the streets after the announcement of a significant increase in the price of fuel. And the protest movement has spread to around 100 cities.
According to Amnesty International, more than 300 people were killed during the three days of repression, a record denied by Tehran. The United Nations suggests authorities have arrested around seven thousand people.
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