The last round was met with a massive police force and this one will likely be the same. The dynamics in Algeria are somewhat different in than in neighboring countries. While there's no doubt about the firm grip on power at the top, Algeria has struggled with extreme violence for years from radical extremists. If anything, that violence has helped the government look reasonable. It's not to say people wouldn't like a better government, but with what the country has been through, anything stable looks better. Al Jazeera:
Algerians are planning an anti-government protest in the capital, Algiers, a week after thousands of demonstrators were confronted by 30,000 riot police at the same venue.
The protest, scheduled to take place on Saturday around May 1 Square, the site of last week's rally, has been organised by the National Co-ordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD).
The month-old umbrella group is made up of the political opposition, the Algerian human rights league and trade unions.
