Algerians protest against interim president, call for resignation

Hundreds of Algerians on Tuesday took to the streets to protest against interim President Abdelkader Bensalah who replaced long-serving leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The protesters rejected as “unacceptable” Bensalah’s determination to stay in his position as chairman of the upper house of parliament, the Council of Nation.

He, however, did not heed the demonstrators’ calls to resign that position.

Under Algeria’s constitution, the chairman of the upper house would be appointed interim leader if the post of the president becomes vacant due to death or serious illness.

Earlier, the Algerian parliament named Bensalah to lead the North African country for a 90-day transitional period. Protesters reject him as close to Bouteflika’s political establishment they sought to oust.

Report says naming an interim president allows the country to organise elections, in which Bensalah cannot run.

“The protest movement that overthrew Bouteflika cannot stand idly by against Bensalah, (Prime Minister Noureddine) Bedoui and (head of Constitutional Council Tayeb) Belaiz,’’ a protester in the capital Algiers told dpa.

The protesters also demand the resignation of Bedoui and his government, which they regard as illegitimate.

Media report said if Bensalah were to resign as interim president, then Belaiz, who is also not popular with the protest movement, will replace him.

Bouteflika stepped down recently after pressure from the powerful military and nationwide protests against his 20-year rule; meanwhile his fourth term was due to end on April 28.

In March, Bouteflika yielded to the demands of protesters and renounced his bid for a fifth term in office and indefinitely postponed the presidential polls, originally scheduled for April 18.

As protests continued, Algeria’s military joined the calls for Bouteflika’s departure, which ultimately led to his resignation on April 2.

Bouteflika had been in power since 1999, even though he suffered a stroke in 2013 and has rarely been seen in public since then.