Thousands of Algerians continued to flood the streets on Friday to push for reforms and the departure of the ruling elite. The Friday protest marked the 21st consecutive week that Algerians have gathered to demand a complete overhaul of the country’s political system.
The month’s long mass protests forced long-serving President Bouteflika to resign on April 2 after two decades in power, and the army is now the main player in Algeria’s politics. The protesters are now demanding an overhaul of the political system and the removal of Bouteflika-era officials from office ahead of eventual elections.
One of the protesters even tried to set himself ablaze in Algiers on Friday but other demonstrators intervened and doused him with water, reported Reuters.
“Our protest movement will continue”, read the protest banners. ‘We want democracy and freedom’, and ‘Thieves, you have looted the country.”
The protests still continue even after Algerian legislators elected an Islamist opposition figure as the speaker of Algeria’s parliament earlier this week. The parliament elected Slimane Chenine of the Movement of National Construction party to replace Moad Bouchareb from the National Liberation Front (FLN), which has ruled Algeria since independence from France in 1962.
Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah tried to please the protesters and vowed to prosecute government officials and associates of the former president suspected of corruption. As part of the corruption probe, two former prime ministers, Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, and several key business figures have been taken into custody on corruption allegations.
But the protesters are still calling out interim president Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister, Noureddine Bedoui, who are seen by demonstrators as close to the old guard, to step down.
Salah has also suggested conducting the presidential election in Algeria to get the country out of the crisis. The election commission postponed a vote previously set for July 4, citing a lack of candidates. No new date has been set.
