Algeria: is the military winning?

The protests in Algeria are getting smaller as the military makes moves against the protestors via arrests and suppression while at the same time trying to present themselves as willing to compromise.

Via Al Jazeera:

Algeria's powerful army chief has said the military will not back any candidate in a presidential election set for December to choose a successor to ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"We affirm that only the people will pick the next president through ballot boxes, and the army will not support anyone," a defence ministry statement quoted Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah as saying on Sunday. 



Via Reuters, it looks like religious leaders are pushing the upcoming December elections:

The demonstrations in the capital Algiers and several other cities follow a ruling by a prominent independent cleric this week urging people to vote in a December election backed by the army but opposed by the protest movement.

The fatwa, or Islamic legal ruling, and another two weeks ago, represent the first significant comment on the months-long political crisis by major independent clerics, and may influence conservative Algerians.

Reuters has this:

With more police at protests and by detaining opposition figures, the authorities have piled pressure on demonstrators in recent weeks. At the same time, they have also acceded to some of their demands by detaining senior officials on corruption charges.

The election authority this week urged protesters to help supervise the vote to ensure transparency, in the most recent of several attempts to calm demonstrators. 

Global Voices wrote:

Several protesters and activists have been arrested without charge, including journalist Fodil Boumala, activist Samir Benlarbi, arrested on the 16 September, while riding in a car with his friend and Karim Tabbou, leader of the Democratic and Social Alliance, arrested at his home . . . CNLD, a national organization for the liberation of prisoners of conscience, published a list of 75 such detainees, of which five have been released.

. . . On 20 and 27 September, both Fridays, police blocked the main entry points to Algiers, after authorities banned protesters coming into the city in an attempt to quell the movement.

. . . The authorities have also forbidden meetings of political parties and associations and closed the offices of mainstream TV channel Al-Araby, after it broadcast images of protest slogans against the country's strongman, Ahmed Gaïd Salah, chief of staff of the Algerian army.

It looks like the military is doing some sort of triangulation. I'm betting that they had discussions with certain religious leaders to push the benefits of the December election. The military is arresting certain protest leaders, doing everything they can to reduce the size of the protests and shutting down media channels, but at the same time they're asking protestors to help with election supervision. The military is also saying they'll stay out of the presidential elections. I'm assuming this is based on an outcome where the elected leader will have a favorable view of the military. As of yet, I am not sure who is running for president so I haven't been able to gather any information on the stances of the potential candidates. If there aren't any declared candidates, that should be a concern about who exactly gets to run. As of now, I'd say the Algerian military is trying to create the charade of an election. The question is: are the protestors just temporarily being suppressed?