Bouteflika’s fourth term ends in 2019. It seems likely that Algeria’s political future will remain in a flux until – or perhaps beyond – then. As if to underscore that point, FLN chief Djmel Ould Abbes last October 2016 floated the spectre that Bouteflika may even run for another term “if he wishes.”

The Algerian society seems to be on the verge of explosion. Postages denouncing the new austerity measures can be seen everywhere, civic organisations are mounting with warnings against degeneration into more violence and vandalism if solutions are not provided.

Today, Russia has a presence in almost all of the Soviet Union’s former zones of influence, namely Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Algeria. Furthermore, it is getting closer to the other non-Arab hegemon apart from Iran; Turkey. The Middle East therefore represented the best forum for a show of force by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ironically, it is the Arab Spring – which Russian media outlets criticize continuously – that has allowed Putin to achieve his goal.

Human rights violations fall into five main areas: freedom of association, peaceful assembly and protest, freedom of speech, women’s rights, minority rights and accountability for past crimes. In sum, human rights in Algeria are frequently violated and the government seems deaf to the repeated calls to remedy the situation.

From the country’s independence until 1990, all of Algeria’s domestic press, television and radio outlets were state owned. Satellite television was permitted in 1987, and following the passing of the 1990 Information Code, the government ended its monopoly over the printed press.

As president, Bouteflika focused on rebuilding the country and strengthening Algeria’s international reputation. Domestically, Bouteflika worked on distancing the military, namely the security services, from the political arena. This created a power struggle that continues to define Algerian politics.

Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised multilevel reforms in order to calm angry youth protesting high prices for basic commodities. He promised to undertake deep constitutional reforms meant to restore a more free and inclusive society and a democratic state. In a country where politics are complex to begin with, this promise proved to be tough and tedious to keep, but Algerians did see the formal fulfilment of the promise.

The concept of human rights has become a well-known and widely accepted term to use. An overview of human rights in Algeria.

What is certain is that Bouteflika won this political round. The ailing leader who can barely talk and walk was able to remove his old ally and recent enemy. He won because of the support of the military, which is now the other major player alongside the presidency. Have the country’s problems ended there? On the contrary, this is perhaps only the beginning.

A decade later, in 2015, Algeria is witnessing a surge in nikah al-misyar, or traveller’s marriage. Imported from Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt via the Gulf states, it is now finding its way into educated Algerian society, particularly academia. An al-misyar marriage is a religiously permitted form of marriage contract to which a man and a woman agree in the presence of two witnesses.