In 2011, the government, fearing contagion from Tunisia and Egypt, where long-established dictatorships had just been toppled, responded to the spread of protests by public-sector workers by raising their salaries by 100% – retroactively to 2008. But the plan backfired; protests intensified, with other workers demonstrating for similar benefits and railing against the inflation that the move engendered.
在这样的背景下，政府做出试图收买反对者的肤浅手段不足为奇。2011年，政府担心突尼斯和埃及的状况——长期独裁统治被推翻蔓延到阿尔及利亚，对公共部门员工示威蔓延的反应是提高100%的薪水，这在2008年算得上逆潮流而动。但这一计划适得其反，示威更加严重了，其他部门的工人也要求获得同样的好处，并抗议政府的这一行为所导致的通货膨胀。