Algeria’s military chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah on Wednesday ordered the army and security forces to clampdown on protestors who head into the capital for weekly demonstrations demanding the removal of the old ruling elite, reported Reuters.
During a speech at an army barracks in the south of Algeria, the army chief ordered for restricting the entry of buses and cars bringing protesters into the capital. He called the members of the military, or gendarmes, to arrest protesters heading to Algiers for the demonstrations.
“We have instructed the gendarmerie to … stop buses and cars that are used to this end; to seize and impose fines on their owners,” Lieutenant General Salah said on Wednesday.
Salah’s statement comes after interim president Abdelkader Bensalah announced December 12 elections on Sunday. The army chief believes the election is the only way to resolve the political deadlock gripping the country following the departure of long-standing ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
In his speech, Salah accused some people or parties of using “freedom of movement as a pretext to justify their dangerous behavior” and “falsely claiming to be the voice of the Algerian people”. He reiterated his claim that protesters are being manipulated by networks of the gang comprising of those who held powerful positions under Bouteflika.
The protest rallies, which first took off on February 22 after the ailing Bouteflika announced he was seeking re-election, have continued to date demanding constitutional changes and other reforms before a legitimate election can be held.
On Tuesday, thousands of students came out onto the streets of the capital, Algiers, to demand the cancellation of the December polls, which were already canceled twice before. They chanted slogans and raised placards denouncing the December election, maintaining their position that no election can be free or fair while Algeria’s old ruling elite remain in place.
