After several weeks of small protests at the decision of the President, in office since 1999 and not seen in public for 2014 to stand again, then announce his exit, but cancelling elections. Now the protests have become far larger. Plus interest groups have stood aside, e.g. the judges who supervise elections. There was footage of police cheering at the weekend.

This report ends with:
(President) Bouteflika helped to defeat a civil war against Islamist insurgents in which tens of thousands of people were killed in the 1990s, and many Algerians long accepted heavy-handed rule as the price of stability. But the public has lost patience with deteriorating economic conditions and the FLN’s failure to make the transition to a new generation despite the president’s failing health.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...eflik-movement

We can only hope the Spring will bring a peaceful change, as we know from Syria protestors carrying the national flag died.