Algeria is again deprived of its president. Abdelmajid Tebboune returned to Germany for treatment for the second time in three months. His absence at the head of state is becoming the rule.
It’s simple: since contracting the coronavirus two and a half months ago, President Tebboune has only spent 12 days in his country. It does not do much to ensure its function. On Sunday January 10, a statement from the Algerian presidency on Facebook announced his departure for Germany, to treat “foot complications”, obviously following the virus. From late October to late December, he had already spent two months in a German hospital, without knowing exactly which one.
The Algerian president, who is 75 years old and a heavy smoker, has clearly been hit hard by the Covid epidemic. And when he returned in late December, he was wearing a brace on one foot. It could be a disease-related phlebitis. In other words, potentially serious blood clots. Hence his new hospitalization. Abdelmajid Tebboune wants to be reassuring: he says that this return to the hospital was planned and that the treatment protocol is ongoing. But all this is quite opaque, as is often the case with the Algerian authorities. And in the meantime, he’s not the one running the business.
The German hospital for the president, the Russian vaccine for the population
All of this is happening as Algeria announces the imminent start of its vaccination campaign. The country has 100,000 cases of contamination and 2,800 deaths. It is one of the most affected countries in Africa. And Algeria has decided to trust the Russian vaccine. There is geopolitics in this: Moscow is an old ally of Algeria. And there are also economic interests: Russia has heavily subsidized its Sputnik vaccine to deliver it to Algeria. The arrival of the first doses should therefore take place in the coming days.
But given the doubts about the effectiveness of the Russian vaccine, all this raises questions on social media in Algeria. And then there is a disturbing contrast with the departure of the Head of State: the 44 million Algerians are obliged to note that their president, in a personal capacity, has more confidence in German medicine than in medicine. Russian for treatment.
An ever-present repression
The absence of President Tebboune can also have political consequences: it de facto reinforces the political weight of the military, already very important in Algeria, in particular the role of the Chief of Staff, General Saïd Chengriha, one of the strong men of the regime. In the background, the repression intensifies again against the militants of Hirak, this popular uprising which rocked Algeria before being interrupted by the pandemic. More than 90 people linked to the movement are now behind bars.
Last week a young Internet user, Walid Kechida, was sentenced to three years in prison, on the sole ground that he made fun of the president and religion on the Internet, by posting memes, these hijackings of images to humorous purposes. Three other Hirak activists are also on hunger strike. And censorship of electronic media and social networks is becoming the rule.
