Thousands of people marched this Sunday, February 16 in Kherrata in eastern Algeria, on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of an unprecedented demonstration in this city against the candidacy for a 5th term of ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to witnesses.
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The Kherrata demonstration had kicked off an unprecedented wave of popular protest against the government, which led to the resignation on April 2, 2019 of Mr. Bouteflika, released by the army.
On February 16, 2019, a spontaneous rally brought together thousands of demonstrators against a new term of Mr. Bouteflika, helpless and aphasic, in Kherrata, 300 km east of Algiers, the first step to have ignited the spark of the sling which then had to reach all of Algeria.
The next day, February 17, a similar march took place in Bordj Bou Arreridj (150 km southeast of Algiers) and three days later, hundreds of people demonstrated in Khenchela in eastern Algeria as well. During the Khenchela rally, some protesters went up to the roof of the town hall to take down a giant portrait of the head of state which covered part of the facade next to the Algerian flag.
A few days later, on February 22, millions of Algerians took to the streets of all the major cities of the country to express their rejection of a 5th term of Mr. Bouteflika.
President reaches out to protesters
To mark the 1st anniversary of the Kherrata march, thousands of demonstrators crisscrossed the streets of the city on Sunday with cries of " Algerians are all brothers " and brandishing the national or Berber emblem.
Several figures from " Hirak " - the protest movement -, including the highly respected veteran of the war of independence Lakhdar Bouregaa or even Samir Benlarbi, an active civil society activist, took part in the demonstration, according to witnesses .
Protesters called for a " transitional period " to lead to regime change.
The starting point for the 2019 demonstration in Kherrata has been renamed “ Place de la Liberté on February 16, 2019 ”. A stele has been erected there.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, elected on December 12 in a ballot boycotted by the majority of Algerians, again extended his hand to protest on Sunday during a meeting between the government and the country's prefects.
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" A year ago, the citizens came out in a peaceful blessed 'Hirak', under the protection of the National Army, to demand change and to peacefully reject the adventure that almost led to the collapse of the state and its pillars to fall back into the tragedy of the 1990s, "he said in reference to the" dark decade "of the civil war, according to the agency APS.
