1988 October Riots

The 1988 October Riots were a series of street-level disturbances and riotous demonstrations by Algerian youth, in the autumn of 1988, which indirectly led to the fall of the country's single-party system and the introduction of democratic reform, but also to a spiral of instability and increasingly vicious political conflict, ultimately fostering the Algerian Civil War.

The targets of the anarchic protests, which began on October 5, 1988, were never clearly articulated, but generally directed at the increasing social despair - to a large extent the result of oil prices dropping sharply the preceding years - and at the slow pace of economic and political reform. The protests were violently repressed, but set in motion a process of internal regime power-struggles and public criticism that eventually led to the downfall of the Algerian single-party system, which had kept the military-dominated Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) party in power since 1962. A new constitution was later promulgated, as President Chadli Bendjedid accepted the introduction of a multi-party democracy (stunted by the outbreak of the Algerian Civil War in 1992).

The violence caused tens or hundreds of deaths, and many more injured. The simultaneous and unexpected nature of the protests, as well as their monumental consequences, has led many Algerian observers to trace their origins to intrigues within the ruling elite, with military factions exploiting the frustration of Algerian youth, and the widespread popular discontent with corruption in the state apparatus, to discredit the Presidency or force its hand. However, little evidence exists to support this thesis - or, indeed, to disprove it.