Algeria, 2019 — military coup

Event Summary

On 2 April 2019 President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria resigned after six weeks of the mass protest movement known as the Hirak, ending 20 years in power. Bouteflika, 82 and rarely seen in public since a 2013 stroke, had triggered the uprising by announcing in February 2019 that he would seek a fifth term. Enormous peaceful protests, held every Friday and drawing millions across the country from all social classes and notably led by youth, demanded that he abandon the bid and, increasingly, that the whole ruling establishment, known as le pouvoir, be swept away.

The decisive turn came from the military: on 26 March the army chief of staff, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, a longtime Bouteflika ally, called for the Constitutional Council to declare the president unfit under Article 102 of the constitution, and repeated the demand days later. Facing the loss of his key backer and unrelenting street pressure, Bouteflika resigned on 2 April, saying he acted to protect people and property. Senate president Abdelkader Bensalah became interim head of state, tasked with organizing elections.

The Hirak protests continued long after, since demonstrators rejected a transition managed by Bouteflika era figures, and Gaid Salah emerged as the most powerful broker until his death in December 2019.