A meeting scheduled Thursday in Algiers which was to bring together various collectives of " Hirak ", the popular protest movement born a year ago in Algeria, has been postponed for lack of authorization, we learned on Wednesday from the organizers. “ Less than 24 hours before it took place, we received no response (from the authorities). Neither positive nor negative "as to the allocation of the room which was to house the meeting, said AFP Said Salhi, vice-president of the Algerian League for Human Rights (LADH). However, added Mr. Salhi, " there are people who come from several wilayas (prefectures), we cannot bring them in for nothing ".
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" Hirak " activists from all over the country as well as the diaspora were to take part in the meeting, organizers said. The latter intended to submit to participants a " Proclamation of February 22 ", in reference to the date of the first major demonstrations a year ago against the candidacy for a fifth term of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to the Collectif pour la democratic transition.
The " Hirak " obtained the resignation of Mr. Bouteflika in early April 2019 but it continues to demand a real break with the political " system " in place since the independence of Algeria in 1962. Mr. Bouteflika's successor, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, was elected on December 12 on the background of record abstention. The protest movement, which had called for a boycott of the poll, denounced a maneuver by the authorities to regenerate themselves. One year after his birth, the "Hirak" wonders about his future, faced with the risk of shortness of breath in the face of a regime that says it wants to " reach out to him ".
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