Source: POMED – Project on Middle East Democracy
Author(s): Leslie Campbell
Original Link: https://pomed.org/not-over-yet-latest-wave-of-middle-east-protests-a-reminder-of-2011s-unmet-demands/
Recent images of hundreds of thousands of citizens marching peacefully through Algerian streets demanding the resignation of their autocratic ruler offer an unmistakable and powerful analog to the 2011 Arab uprisings. The ailing and out-of-touch 82-year-old Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking a fifth presidential term in a country where 70 percent of the population is under age 30 brings to mind an oblivious Hosni Mubarak tragically misreading the seriousness of the first gatherings against him in Tahrir Square. Like Mubarak, who first tried to placate young Egyptians by promising to step down “later,” Bouteflika’s advisors beggar belief by claiming that their man—rarely seen in public over the past five years—will step down after he is “reelected” yet again.
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