Did the Popular Hirak Succeed? A Question That Allows No Courtesy

🗓️ Published on: 25/02/2026

By Raouf Mellal, President of the Confederation

On the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the popular Hirak, I was pleased to participate in a special panel and media coverage organized by Maghrebia Channel In Paris, it was an opportunity to meet a number of activists and political actors.

To be frank, I sensed that some of them viewed me negatively. I do not know whether this was for ideological or personal reasons. Nevertheless, I chose to remain composed and move past it. At the same time, I encountered pragmatic activists—individuals capable of distancing themselves from emotion and willing to engage in serious criticism and discussion.

I did not miss the opportunity to criticize the Rachad movement.I reiterated that this movement was among the factors that contributed to the failure of the Hirak. It also provided the ruling system with a legal pretext to imprison hundreds of activists on charges of affiliation,even though many of them had no connection to it whatsoever.

I then posed a direct question: did the Hirak succeed or fail?

Many argued that it succeeded from a purely philosophical or intellectual standpoint. In my view, this position is unrealistic. Despite repeated attempts to understand their perspective, I have not been able to accept this interpretation.

For me , the Hirak failed decisively.Worse still, it deepened the fragmentation of the opposition. Before February 2019, the opposition—despite its differences—operated with a greater degree of coherence. Today, we see an opposition fractured along ideological and identity lines. In Paris, for example, on the seventh anniversary of the Hirak, a march was organized on Saturday and a counter-protest was held on Sunday—an illustration of ongoing ideological battles.

The failure of the Hirak was further compounded by the rise of so-called “influencers,” many without political or trade union background, who have come to dominate political discourse on social media. They offer no concrete pathways for change, yet excel in criticism and leaks.

In 2019, we took to the streets demanding democratic change. Instead, we are confronted today with a more consolidated and more authoritarian system than before. That is the reality.

How can we speak of success when thousands of young people are boarding boats of death? When arrests are carried out almost daily against critical voices of all political orientations? When our only means of defending detainees is through online campaigns?

How can we speak of success while laws continue to be passed in a closed political environment—most recently the nationality law? While Algerian activists in exile live as refugees?

Had the Hirak succeeded, we would be struggling today from within Algeria, each in our respective fields, within a genuine democratic space.

I am not writing this out of self-flagellation, but out of responsibility. We cannot build on illusion. We must acknowledge failure, analyze our mistakes, and understand how a powerful popular momentum was transformed into a more restrictive political reality.

The issue is not about repeating the same cycle. It is about changing the rules of the game. That requires the courage to acknowledge before the courage to confront. It also requires agreement on what we truly want.

Many are betting on a new popular uprising. It may indeed happen, especially given the worsening economic crisis and the regime’s reliance on a security-driven approach. But the real question is this: would any future eruption lead to genuine democratic opening? Or would it merely allow one faction within the system to reproduce the same structure under a new façade, as happened with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune?

What concerns me most is that certain actors within the opposition appear to be betting on chaos, negotiating behind closed doors with rival factions to gain access to power. Democracy and freedoms are not their priority. And should they reach power, we may witness a repetition of what we have already experienced under previous governments.