Tag: Algiers

In this picture taken on June 27, 2012, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, left, and his Army chief of staff, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, review an honor guard before attending a military parade, in Cherchell near Algiers, Algeria. Algeria's powerful army chief, Ahmed Gaid Salah, insisted Wednesday that the military won't get mixed up in politics, a day after he said a constitutional process should be set in motion to declare ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office. (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul) ALGIERS, Algeria – Algerians taking to the streets for their sixth straight Friday of protests aren't just angry at their ailing president — they want to bring down the entire political system. Small crowds started filling the boulevards of Algiers on Friday morning, and their numbers are expected to swell after midday Muslim prayers. The Algerian army chief called earlier this week for a constitutional process to declare President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office. Other politicians and parties backed the idea as a solution to the gas-rich country's political crisis. But protesters see the proposal as a way for the secretive political elite to keep their grip on power and name a hand-picked successor to Bouteflika, who has been largely out of the public eye since a 2013 stroke. Anger at the constitutional process issue is central to Friday's protest.

* Protest leaders emerge from weeks of unrest * Bold call on military not to intervene * “Platform of Change” ALGIERS, March 19 (Reuters) - A new group headed by political leaders, opposition figures and activists called on Algeria’s powerful generals to stay out of politics as it pressed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the government to quit. In the first direct message to the army from leaders emerging from mass protests against Bouteflika, the National Coordination for Change said the military should “play its constitutional role without interfering in the people choice”. In 1992, the army cancelled elections an Islamist party was set to win, triggering a long civil war that killed an estimated 200,000 people. In a statement titled “Platform of Change” and issued late on Monday, the organisation demanded the Bouteflika should step down before the end of his term on April 28 and the government resign immediately. Algerian authorities have always been adept at manipulating a weak and disorganised opposition. But more than three weeks of demonstrations - which peaked on Friday with hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of Algiers - have emboldened well-known figures to lead the drive for reforms in the North African country. Zoubida Assoul, leader of a small political party, is the only woman in the group so far. Bouteflika, rarely seen in public since a stroke in 2013, has failed to ease anger on the streets by reversing a decision to seek a fifth term, postponing an election and planning a conference that will chart a new political future. “Bouteflika just trampled on the constitution after he decided to extend his fourth term,” said the National Coordination for Change. (Writing by Michael Georgy Editing by Andrew Heavens)

* Protest leaders emerge from weeks of unrest * Bold call on military not to intervene * “Platform of Change” ALGIERS, March 19 (Reuters) - A new group headed by political leaders, opposition figures and activists called on Algeria’s powerful generals to stay out of politics as it pressed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the government to quit. In the first direct message to the army from leaders emerging from mass protests against Bouteflika, the National Coordination for Change said the military should “play its constitutional role without interfering in the people choice”. In 1992, the army cancelled elections an Islamist party was set to win, triggering a long civil war that killed an estimated 200,000 people. In a statement titled “Platform of Change” and issued late on Monday, the organisation demanded the Bouteflika should step down before the end of his term on April 28 and the government resign immediately. Algerian authorities have always been adept at manipulating a weak and disorganised opposition. But more than three weeks of demonstrations - which peaked on Friday with hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of Algiers - have emboldened well-known figures to lead the drive for reforms in the North African country. Zoubida Assoul, leader of a small political party, is the only woman in the group so far. Bouteflika, rarely seen in public since a stroke in 2013, has failed to ease anger on the streets by reversing a decision to seek a fifth term, postponing an election and planning a conference that will chart a new political future. “Bouteflika just trampled on the constitution after he decided to extend his fourth term,” said the National Coordination for Change. (Writing by Michael Georgy Editing by Andrew Heavens)