Algeria: Hirak brewing with youth protesters leading the way

Nearly half of the Algerian population are under 30. They are unemployed, oppressed, and frustrated. And despite massive security clampdown, youth-led demonstrations continue to spread this weekend to several cities amid reports of thousands participating in marches and violent clashes between the demonstrators and the police.

The demonstrations are organized by “Gen-Z 213” movement through social media platforms like X, TikTok, and Discord. They are demanding social reforms, greater freedom of expression, democratic reforms, and an end to corruption.

These protests are fueled by deep frustrations over economic stagnation, political repression, and unfulfilled promises by the military-backed regime of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune who represents continuity of the rule of pre-independence generation.

According to 2024 Algerian data, over 30% of youth are under 25, with many graduates are unemployed in an oil-gas producer country wherein people are suffering from soaring prices, eroding purchasing power, and shortage of basic staple foods.

The Algerian junta, hunted by the return of the Hirak movement which ousted Bouteflika regime, responded with the deployment of more security forces in major cities, with mass arbitrary arrests and crackdown on pro-democracy militants.

On Friday, Algeria was under a state of siege. Anti-riot forces from the police, the gendarmerie, and army have encircled several districts in Algiers wherein they brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators with batons.

The Algerian regime have chosen repression, intimidation, and use of excessive force. But history shows that oppression of the military dictatorship does not succeed in deterring people from engaging in anti-government protests. It will only generate more political resistance and accelerate regime change that was disrupted by Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.