Algiers: Protesters waving banners and calling for radical change marched through Algiers for a seventh successive Friday as Algeria’s spy chief was reported fired in a further sign of high-level turmoil following the resignation of the country’s veteran president.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital to push for the removal of the entire political structure, built around the ruling party, army officers, businessmen, unions and veterans of a 1954-62 independence war against France.
Activists took to social media calling for “joyful demonstrations” to “peacefully bring down a dictatorial regime”.
Opponents of the old regime have called for a massive turnout, targeting a triumvirate they dub the “3B” — Abdelakder Bensalah, Tayeb Belaiz and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui.
The veteran Bouteflika loyalists have been entrusted with overseeing the political transition after the veteran leader finally stepped down at the age of 82.
Bouteflika resigned late on Tuesday after weeks of demonstrations triggered by his bid for a fifth term in office. He had lost the backing of key supporters including armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah.
Bensalah, speaker of the upper house of parliament for 16 years, is to take the reins as interim president for three months until elections are organised.
Belaiz, a minister for 16 years, was named by Bouteflika as head of the Constitutional Council which will regulate the elections.
Opponents say all three are tarnished by their long years of service under Bouteflika and should follow his lead and resign.
Hours before the rally was set to begin, several hundred demonstrators had already gathered outside the main post office in central Algiers, which has been the epicentre of the protest movement.
Some shouted “we will not forgive!” in reference to an open letter Bouteflika issued after his resignation, apologising to the Algerian people for “mistakes made”.
Said Wafi, a bank worker from the nearby city of Boumerdes, had arrived at 5:00 am in hope of being “the first demonstrator against the system”.
“Bouteflika leaving means nothing if his men continue to run the country,” the 42-year-old said.
Samir Ouzine, 19, a student, agreed.
“Bouteflika was very sick. He wasn’t really governing, and nothing will change if he alone leaves and his men stay.”
One of the leading voices of the protest movement, lawyer Mustapha Bouchachi, called for the demonstrations to continue “until they have all gone”.
“Our victory is partial,” he said in a video posted online.
“Algerians will not accept that symbols of the regime... lead the interim period and organise the next elections.
“These symbols of the regime cannot be part of the solution and we have been demanding since February 22 that the whole system, its symbols and its clients, leave,” he added.
“The president’s resignation does not mean that we have actually won.”
Protesters are calling for new transitional institutions to be set up to implement reforms and organise free elections.
“Sticking with the constitution would probably be met with quite a bit of protest, as protesters may be wary of elections not being fair, competitive and free,” said Isabelle Werenfels of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
“One option would be to name an independent and broadly accepted head for a transitional body,” she said.
Hamza Meddeb, an independent analyst in Tunisia, said Algeria was entering “a very delicate phase, because the street and the institutions are at risk of diverging”.
Geneva-based political scientist Hasni Abidi said “the Algerian street has become a new player” in the country’s politics. — AFP
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