Ousted by protests, Bouteflika was once Algeria’s saviour

Bloomberg

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who led Algeria out of civil war to become its longest-serving president, has resigned after throngs of protesters and even his military allies told the ailing president he’d overstayed his welcome.
Though Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, his political demise will deepen uncertainty in the North African OPEC member. His resignation might not be enough to assuage demonstrators whose demands have expanded over six weeks to encompass the removal of the entire ruling elite. Spontaneous celebrations erupted in the capital Algiers, with drivers beeping car horns and crowds chanting: “This is a start, but there’s more to come.”
Last elected in 2014, Bouteflika has been largely incapacitated, communicating through statements and governing with the help of his brother Said and a coterie of army officers, businessmen and officials of the
ruling FLN party, known collectively as “le pouvoir.” His bid for another term in elections initially slated for April prompted anger and disbelief among Algerians, nearly half of whom are under 25 and no longer want to be ruled by aging veterans of the country’s war of independence from France.
During his time in office, Bouteflika worked to co-opt and weaken the country’s opposition parties, leaving no obvious rival to lead Europe’s third-largest gas supplier. Divisions within the ruling elite mean even the establishment was unable to offer up a clear successor. With his departure, a longstanding North African bulwark against terrorism and illegal migration to Europe enters uncharted territory.

Stability First
When he first came to power in 1999, Bouteflika cut a more popular figure. At the time, Algeria was still ravaged by a civil war that began in 1992 after the army, unwilling to accept an expected extremist victory in parliamentary elections, scrapped the poll.
By the end of the decade, the rebels were divided and Bouteflika and the military exploited those splits to defeat them, effectively ending the conflict. As many as 200,000 people died in brutal fighting, thousands went missing, and Algerians who lived through the violence still credit Bouteflika for his role in restoring peace.
With the war over, Bouteflika presided over a period of relative domestic stability that saw the economy grow at an average of 5 percent a year during his first three terms in office.
Barely touched by the Arab Spring uprisings that spread through the region in 2011, Algeria’s lawmakers approved at the time constitutional changes granting more political rights to key constituencies, including the indigenous Amazigh community, women and businessmen.
Critically, a long run of relatively high oil prices provided Bouteflika with the financial resources to buy off public discontent with generous state benefits. During the 2014 electoral race, he quelled protests with a mixture of water canons and enhancements to subsidies and public sector salaries.