Hundreds of thousands of Algerians Call for Bouteflika’s Resignation

By Staff, Agencies

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Algiers on Friday to demand the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Reuters witnesses said, days after the army chief called for his removal.

The army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, on Tuesday asked the constitutional council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit for office.

Bouteflika, facing the biggest crisis of his 20-year-old rule, has failed to placate Algerians by reversing a decision to seek a fifth term.

Protesters, who have been staging demonstrations since February 22, say they want to overthrow an entire political system and replace it with a new generation of leaders capable of modernizing the oil-dependent state and giving hope to a population impatient for a better life.

Under Article 102, the Constitutional Council could determine the president is too ill to fully exercise his functions, and ask the parliament to declare him unfit. Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

If a two-thirds majority of the parliament's lower and upper house ratify the council's decision, the chairman of the upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days.

The army chief is among the top power brokers in Algeria and his announcement could pave the way for Bouteflika's removal.

The move came days after Hocine Khaldoun, spokesman for the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), said he will ask the party to withdraw its support for Bouteflika's proposal to hold a national conference aimed at getting the country out of its current political deadlock.