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1 [1] (April 25, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzlv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cogrsioa Reerh evc Updated April 25, 2019 Algeria: In Focus President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (82) stepped down on April 2, 2019, in the face of large, peaceful protests, ushering in a new era of political uncertainty in Algeria. The protests first erupted in February in opposition to Bouteflika's candidacy for a fifth term, despite his evident ill health and advanced age, in elections originally slated for April. On March 11, Bouteflika had renounced his reelection bid while delaying elections indefinitely pending constitutional and electoral reforms. Protests continued. Bouteflika ultimately stepped down after the military chief of staff, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah-previously viewed as an ally-publicly called for constitutional impeachment procedures. Following Bouteflika's resignation, Algeria's parliament recognized Senate leader Abdelkader Bensalah as interim president with new elections to be held within 90 days, consistent with constitutional succession provisions. Bensalah has scheduled elections for July 4. Law enforcement bodies have also launched what appears to be a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown targeting prominent business leaders; some, but not all, were considered close to Bouteflika. Large protests have continued, with activists pressing for more comprehensive political changes. Algeria's political system is a republic with a strong presidency and security apparatus, a state-centric economy, and social welfare programs underpinned by oil and gas revenues. State decisionmaking is diffuse and opaque, with elected politicians, military and intelligence officers, and business leaders reportedly wielding influence behind the scenes. The State Department's human rights reports cite official corruption as a key issue. This system had withstood turmoil in the region since 2011 as well as internal pressures. The prospect of an uncertain leadership transition has nonetheless preoccupied Algerians as members of the revolutionary generation that fought for independence from France in the mid-20th century have aged or passed away. Politics: Context President Bouteflika was first elected in 1999 with military backing, as Algeria's decade-long brutal counterinsurgency against armed Islamist groups was winding down. He advanced reconciliation initiatives and sought to consolidate executive powers under the presidency, in part by asserting greater control over the army and military intelligence service. Bouteflika was last reelected in 2014, a year after suffering a stroke that appeared to leave him physically debilitated. For years, analysts have observed political paralysis due to a lack of elite consensus over the general outline of the post-Bouteflika era. The bicameral parliament is institutionally weak and dominated by two parties long supportive of Bouteflika: the National Liberation Front (FLN), which led Algeria's fight for independence and was the sole legal party for decades, and the National Rally for Democracy (RND). Figure I. Algeria at a Glance Population: 41.7 million Languages: Arabic (official), French1 Berber dilalects Religions: Muslki (officifl, predom ,TLAHA Y Sunni) 99,otherF <1% (2012) Life Expectancy: 77 year i Population Under 24 Years Old: 45% Literacy: 80% (2015) GDP: growth rate 2.5%, per capita S4,450 Unemployment: 11.6% Exports: petroleum, natural gas, and petroleLu products Imports: capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods Source: CRS graphic; data from CIAWorld Factbook + IMF (2018). The political opposition is diverse and divided, comprising leftist, Islamist, Berber-led, and regionally focused groups. Many parties-including the FLN-also exhibit internal divisions. Some analysts argue that political Islam has been discredited in Algeria due to Islamists' role in the 1990s civil conflict, or-alternatively-due to some Islamist politicians' accommodation with the state. The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), whose rapid electoral gains in 1991 sparked a military coup and the subsequent conflict, remains banned. Religiously conservative Salafist social movements have grown in prominence since the conflict. Terrorism and Counterterrorism Internal security has improved markedly since the civil conflict of the 1990s. Small cells linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) reportedly remain active in some areas, but the pace of attacks has continuously decreased. Since the start of wars in Libya and Mali in 2011, Algerian security forces have bolstered their presence in border regions and conduct frequent counterterrorism operations. The government also runs de-radicalization programs and has sought to control the content of religious sermons. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a U.S.- designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, originated as an insurgent faction from Algeria's 1990s conflict. An AQIM splinter faction claimed an assault in 2013 on a gas plant in southeastern Algeria in which 39 foreigners (including three Americans) were killed. AQIM's leader reportedly remains based in northeast Algeria, but the group's center of gravity has moved south into Mali over the past decade. Since 2017, AQIM's southern branch has been subsumed under a Mali-based jihadist coalition known as the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims, or JNIM after its transliterated Arabic name. AQIM elements and offshoots are also active in Libya and Tunisia. In 2014, an Algerian IS affiliate known as Jund al Khilafah (soldiers of the caliphate) emerged and beheaded a French tourist. Algerian security forces reportedly killed the group's leader the following year and they appear to have