HIBAPRESS – Yassin Al-Dhamiri
Presidential statements in Algeria are no longer occasions to explain policies or present visions, but rather have turned into impromptu shows that draw from a populist excitement dictionary, with the sole goal of attracting attention and creating noise, a discourse that accumulates emotions and does not offer solutions, and replaces the language of the state with the language of social media platforms.
Instead of confronting the Algerian citizen with heavy truths, from developmental setbacks and social and economic crises, the preference is to run forward through loose phrases and fictitious feuds, as admitting failure is more difficult than inventing an external enemy to blame everything on. Thus, the street finds itself being led from one issue to another, without a compass or horizon, while the real questions are postponed: Where is the wealth? Where is the development? And where do the revenues of a country rich in potential go? Questions that do not get high viewership, nor are they suitable for an exciting opening. A street that should have been preoccupied with its future and basic rights, we find it today drowning in TikTok, sharing "Uncle the Clown" clips, and analyzing every move and every sentence as if it were a new trend, not the speech of a head of state who is supposed to be serious and responsible. The scene is closer to a race for "likes" than to managing the affairs of a people, words are thrown, comments are rising, and then success is measured by the number of views, not by the extent of improving people's lives, thus the state is reduced to a clip, and the institution to a short video. In this context, Abdelmadjid Tebboune seems more suited to content creation than to leading a state, as the content creator cares about spread, and the president is supposed to care about the decision, the former seeks interaction, and the latter seeks impact, and between the two there is a distance of a state. The irony is that this method, instead of concealing developmental failure, exposes it more, as serious countries do not need to raise their voices or tickle the instincts, because their achievements take care of talking about them without sound effects. While the presidency is busy creating clips, the gap between discourse and reality widens, a reality that is becoming more harsh, and youth who are becoming more frustrated, and institutions that are managed with a reactive mentality rather than an active one. The danger in the matter is not the mockery itself, but its normalization, when absurdity becomes a style of governance, and clowning is presented as political acumen, this is an indicator of a deep crisis in understanding the meaning of the state. In the end, nations are not run by the number of views, nor is the prestige of the presidency measured by the speed of the clips' spread, the state is a responsibility, and the presidency is a heavy assignment, and whoever mixes between the platform and the chair, will remain a prisoner of the "trend" even if he sits in the palace.
