Algeria is one of a few Middle Eastern countries where unrest inspired by the uprising in Tunisia has been successfully quelled. The authorities managed to do so by swiftly moving in to suppress the demonstrations and carrying out a wave of arrests.

This was followed by a series of economic measures to boost job creation and raise wages, a lifting of emergency rule, and new laws governing the media and political parties. But it seems that the more things change in Algeria, the more they stay the same.

Although the state of emergency has ended, a ruling prohibiting public gatherings in Algiers has been retained. The new media law, on the surface intended to increase press freedoms, carries hefty fines for journalists who contravene the still strict restrictions on what they can say or write.

The political parties law has served to consolidate the power of the governing alliance with the proliferation of new parties splintering the opposition. Constitutional reforms are set to follow, but are also not expected to impact the status quo.

Real change is unlikely before the 2014 presidential poll, which current leader Bouteflika is expected not to contest. But with memories of a decade-long civil war still fresh in minds, most Algerians will choose to sit it out.