Abdelmadjid Tebboune returns to an ailing Algeria

LITTLE IS KNOWN about Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s bout with covid-19. For nearly two months beginning in October, Algeria’s 75-year-old president, a heavy smoker, disappeared from public view after travelling to Germany for treatment. On December 13th, amid swirling rumours about his health, Mr Tebboune’s men posted a proof of life: a five-minute video in which the visibly thinner president pledged to come home soon. At last, on December 29th, he did return, looking as if he had regained the weight. Mr Tebboune is “nearing complete healing”, state media reported, citing a brief statement from the president.

For a man trying to turn the page on the autocratic presidency of his predecessor, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the omens are not good. The government also concealed the poor health of Mr Bouteflika, a wheelchair-bound octogenarian who suffered at least one stroke while in office. Mass protests toppled him in 2019, but they did not dislodge the old elite. Later that year Mr Tebboune (pictured) was elected in a poll contested by only a handful of regime insiders and shunned by most Algerians. The hirak, the country’s leaderless protest movement, boycotted the vote.

The protesters saw the election as an effort to silence them while changing little. They insist on removing the generals, businessmen and...