Algerian military chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah on Tuesday said that those who oppose the army were enemies of Algeria.
Those with “grudges and animosity towards the army and its command… are undoubtedly enemies of Algeria,” a defense military statement quoted Gaid Salah as saying at a military base in the southwestern province of Bechar, reported Aljazeera.
“Those who are knowingly trying to circumvent … terms of the constitution, do they realize what it means to suppress all state institutions?” he asked.
Salah went on to accuse some parties of favoring a constitutional vacuum in order to prolong the country’s political crisis.
“Certain parties want to enter a dark tunnel called ‘constitutional vacuum’,” the army chief said adding, “This means the destruction of the foundations of the Algerian national state.”
Months of mass protests forced veteran leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down as president on April 2. Even after Bouteflika’s exit, the people of Algeria continued with the protests demanding the removal of the ruling elite that has run the state for decades. They now want the resignation of interim president Abdelkader Bensalah, a former head of the upper house of parliament, whom they see as a close ally of Bouteflika.
As the presidential election in Algeria, which was previously planned for July 4, was postponed by the authorities citing a lack of candidates, Gaid Salah has called for dialogue to prepare for elections and pave the way for the selection of a new president to initiate the reforms demanded by protesters. Notably, no new date for the vote has been set.
Algeria’s top businessman Ali Haddad, who has been a key supporter of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is the latest to be detained as part of the ongoing corruption probe. He was jailed for six months on Monday for holding two passports.
