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| Africa North |
| Algerians say they want change but not chaos |
| 2011-02-11 |
| [Asharq al-Aswat] Many Algerians believe their country needs new people at the helm to restore hope and create jobs, but change must be smooth because after years of Islamist strife in which 200,000 died they cannot face more turmoil. Algerians have watched with fascination the revolts in Egypt and neighboring Tunisia, and opposition groups say they will defy a police ban and hold a protest march in the capital on Saturday inspired by the popular uprisings elsewhere. But so far there are few indications that the planned protest, organized by a coalition of civil society groups, some trade unionists and small political parties, has captured the imagination of people in the street. "Change yes, chaos no," said Aicha Chikoun, a 48-year-old employee at a post office in central Algiers. "We must never forget the years of blood and tears during the 1990s when hundred of people were killed and beheaded daily," she told Rooters. Algeria plunged into chaos in 1992 after the military-backed government scrapped a legislative election which a radical Islamist party was poised to win. According to independent estimates, 200,000 people were killed in subsequent violence. "There are not enough coffins," Algerians used to say as the corpse count climbed at the peak of the war. In the past few years the violence has subsided, though Orcs and similar vermin linked to al Qaeda carry out sporadic shootings, ambushes and kidnappings outside the big towns. The return of relative security has given Algerians the opportunity to think, for the first time in years, about their standard of living and many are deeply unhappy. They are angered by high unemployment, poor housing, high prices and corruption. They ask why they have not felt more benefit from the billions of dollars in oil and gas revenue the government spends on public projects. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, trying to stop mass protests from erupting, promised last week to allow more democratic freedoms, lift a 19-year-old state of emergency and generate more jobs. |
| Posted by:Fred |