Algerian army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah has warned protesters against calling for a “civilian, and not military, state”. He said the demand for a complete civilian state has been backed by “traitors”.
“These are poisonous ideas that have been dictated to them [protesters] by circles hostile to Algeria and to its constitutional institutions,” Gaid Salah said during a speech in the capital Algiers on Wednesday, reported Aljazeera.
The army chief also reaffirmed his support for interim president Abdelkader Bensalah, whose term ended July 9 but who remains head of state until the elections are conducted. He said he in favor of Bensalah’s call to hold a national dialogue conference as a way out of the current political crisis.
“We consider presidential elections to be key to building a strong state … a state that the army command is resolved to achieving despite the obstacles it has faced,” said Salah.
Last week, Mr. Bensalah offered to host a national dialogue, in which he promised the current leadership and the country’s military would not be involved in that dialogue, to help pave the way for polls.
Salah said Bensalah’s call for elections was a reasonable and sensible approach to get Algeria out of the crisis.
“As much as we encourage and support its contents, we consider his approach as an important step on the path toward the appropriate resolution of this crisis,” the army chief said in a speech at an official ceremony.
Algeria has been going through a political turmoil since mass protests in early April forced the long-serving president Abdelaziz Bouteflika out of office after two decades in power. The protestors have declined Bensalah’s offer saying say they cannot compete in the elections with Bouteflika’s aides still in power, most markedly Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui and Bensalah.
