Algeria’s ex-president is dead, but his regime lives on

FINALLY THE rumours are true. For years Algerians whispered about the health of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, their president from 1999 to 2019. After suffering a stroke in 2013 he was rarely seen in public, often leading to speculation that he was dead. When the whispers grew too loud, officials would roll him out in his wheelchair to sit before the cameras, a vacant look in his eyes. The people wondered who was really in charge. By 2019 they had had enough of the charade and toppled the old man.