For months, the Algerian government has been receiving warnings from almost every facet of society, including the police and gendarmerie, that its management of the serious economic and social crisis that has affected the country since the collapse of oil prices could lead to a social explosion. In particular, warnings have made it very clear that the social explosion is likely to be triggered by the implementation of the 2017 Loi de Finance, the budget for this year, which came into effect on 1 January.

The warning could not have been more precise. The widespread unrest and riots that began in many parts of the country in the early morning of 2 January were, in some respects, reminiscent of the situation precisely five years earlier, when ‘Arab Spring’ riots took hold of most of Algeria for about 4-5 days. It has given the government, and the country as a whole, a taste of what it can expect, and possibly at a much more serious level, as 2017 progresses.

It is difficult to know the exact geographical extent of these latest troubles, or the extent of the damage. This is because the authorities have tried to minimise the extent of the rioting, while other interested parties have exaggerated it. There has also been little or no accurate press reporting from some areas.

What is clear, however, is that the major focus of the unrest has been the coastal wilaya of Béjaïa, which is about 225 km east of Algiers. Whether it spread from Béjaïa to other areas — or began more or less simultaneously in other wilayas as a result of coordination through social media — is not at all clear. The latter appear to be the case.

This article is from our Algeria Politics & Security publication.