Algerian Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui will resign soon to pave the way for elections this year that the army sees as the only way to end a standoff over months of protests, two senior sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
While tens of thousands of Algerians have been gathering for four months in the capital to demand sweeping political reforms, former fighters who led the last confrontation with the establishment have been warning people not to rock the boat.
Algeria will hold a presidential election on July 4, the interim presidency said on Wednesday after weeks of mass protests led to the resignation of long-serving leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, nearly six weeks after the start of unprecedented protests sparked by his bid for a fifth term.
Algerians were set to launch another round of massive street demonstrations Friday, a month after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term sparked a protest movement that shows little sign of abating.
Algerian authorities halted train and metro services in the capital Algiers on Friday amid heavy security ahead of expected protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Hundreds of lawyers in black robes took to the streets of downtown Algiers on Thursday to press President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down after 20 years in power, adding momentum to the biggest protests there since the 2011 Arab Spring.
Tens of thousands of Algerian protesters marched on Friday to demand that a presidential election next month be canceled until the old ruling guard step aside and the army quit politics.
Weekly protests have taken place on Tuesdays and Fridays since February, but demonstrators appear eager to increase their street presence in the run up to the vote.
Five candidates will run in Algeria’s presidential election next month, including two former prime ministers, the head of the election authority said on Saturday, amid mass protests rejecting the vote.
SABC © 2019
