Beginning in the 1960's Algeria has been free from the previous control and constraint of living under the rule of France. In these past 50 years, the people of Algeria, Algerians, have been hanging in the balance of a country slowly moving towards stability and one that is divulging into chaos. According to a timeline, produced by The New York Times, over viewing the past half month of Algeria's history, the world could soon bear witness to the fall of a country.
The current Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika age 78, is facing a crisis. With his health failing from a stroke in 2013 and his country in a state of turmoil plagued with street violence, poverty, crime and drug trade, Bouteflika seems to be getting desperate to hold onto his seat upon the throne. In an article written by Carlotta Gall titled, "Algerian President Fires Intelligence Chief in a Shake-Up of Security Forces", Gall informs that on top of removing Mohamed Mediene, the head of Algeria's intelligence service for close to three decades, President Bouteflika has been detaining other security officials and officers who oppose his view. Mediene in particular has been publicly opposing Bouteflika's run for a 4th term as President and this shady, backroom poker style deal of his removal might be Bouteflika's way of reassurance for staying in office. A close friend and ally of Mediene who also worked as a counter terrorism correspondent under Bouteflika was arrested in August of 2015 (Gall). Coincidence? I think not .
In the grand scheme of life, the trouble of Algeria will not shutter the common folk who live hundreds and thousands of miles away and this is a problem. Algeria has a Presidential system based government where the President holds most of the power. The United States also has a partially Presidential system based government. What is astounding is that if what is happening in Algeria, wrongful imprisonment, the vast poverty, violence, was happening in America...shit would hit the fan. Nixon was impeached for attempting to cheat the run at presidency, rest assured a candidate that locks up his competition would receive much more severe consequences.
On a list of GDP per capita composed in 2014, the United States ranks 1. Algeria, however, falls much lower to 48. Algeria's GDP is barely 1% of the United States. This is not the main or only cause for Algeria's woes but it most certainly does not help. Lets put it into perspective this way. With such a lower GDP it can be assumed the Algerian economy is not up to par with America's. A struggling economy puts great strains on families and citizens everywhere they turn. Companies go out of business, unemployment rises, children can't afford to get an education and the process of improvement is halted on a country-wide scale.
In an attempt to bring Algerians out of the darkness of poverty the Algerian government began the construction of new apartments and housing for those with nowhere else to go. In another well worded article by Carlotta Gall, the housing system is said to be "shoddy...and too small for families that had grown in the many years since they applied". Not everyone was relocated from the slums into the new housing. When hearing the news they haven't been selected to move, some even chose to take their own lives than continue to live in their current condition (Gall). The housing project was started with the utmost best intentions, but the corruption Bouteflika has planted in the Algerian government has seen to make it a staple point of what is wrong with this country.
It is my belief that when the population struggles and can't dig itself out of a hole, the government must have some sort of solution, not matter how small. So when a country such as Algeria is struggling, how can the people turn to a President such as Bouteflika and trust him to advise and orchestrate the rise out of the pit when he has let them down time and time again?
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