In a scene reflecting the depth of the social and economic crisis faced by Algerians, the municipality of Beni Zid in Skikda province announced a lottery for distributing imported sacrificial animals for Eid, setting their price at four million centimes. Citizens have been compelled to pre-register and wait in bureaucratic lines to enter a draw that determines who is eligible to purchase a sacrifice, a situation that encapsulates the decline in purchasing power and exacerbates the suffering of large segments of the population.
According to the municipality’s announcement, participants in the lottery must provide an ID card, possess a gold card, and prove that the full amount is available in their postal account, along with signing a binding commitment to purchase the animal upon its arrival regardless of circumstances. The registration, which continued over three specified days with strict working hours, was an obligatory step before entering the lottery, which will select beneficiaries based on the quota allocated to the municipality. This process is expected to be replicated across all municipalities in Algeria.
A wave of criticism erupted among Algerians who viewed the organization of a lottery for purchasing sacrifices as a symbol of the failure of economic and social policies. Many described the scene as disgraceful, as ordinary citizens find themselves competing to buy an imported sheep when, theoretically, Algeria, with its oil wealth, should be capable of securing its needs for sacrifices without humiliating its populace.
Abd al-Karim, a health sector employee, expressed that the entire situation is unbefitting for a country with vast natural resources. He added that instead of supporting local farmers and breeders to boost national production, the government resorted to makeshift solutions, turning a religious occasion into a new struggle for survival.
