{"id":644098,"date":"2019-06-23T08:31:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T08:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"
\"Abdelkader<\/div>

Thousands of people have gathere"},"modified":"2019-06-23T08:31:07","modified_gmt":"2019-06-23T08:31:07","slug":"algerians-rally-for-change-after-elections-scrapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/23\/algerians-rally-for-change-after-elections-scrapped\/","title":{"rendered":"Algerians rally for change after elections scrapped"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Abdelkader<\/div>\n

Thousands of people have gathered in the Algerian capital calling on interim President Abdelkader Bensalah to quit after he vowed to stay in power until a new head of state was elected.<\/p>\n

Carrying banners reading \u201cYou all go\u201d and \u201cWe need new figures\u201d, protesters packed central Algiers on Friday for the 16th consecutive week demanding the removal of the ruling elite.<\/p>\n

Bensalah, speaker of the upper house, was elected by parliament to lead the North African country when President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit on April 2 in the face of widespread protests against his 20-year rule.<\/p>\n

Elections were set for July 4, under constitutional rules that state a presidential election must be held within 90 days, but Algeria\u2019s constitutional council on Sunday called off the vote citing a lack of candidates.<\/p>\n

No new date has been set, and the council has suggested Bensalah\u2019s mandate be extended. The 77-year-old politician on Thursday called for \u201cinclusive dialogue\u201d to prepare for an election.<\/p>\n

But the protesters have been staunchly against presidential polls being held as long as the current leaders, which they accuse of having links to Bouteflika, remain in power.<\/p>\n

One banner held up by protesters read: \u201cBensalah go\u201d.<\/p>\n

They also called on army chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah \u2013 who has become the country\u2019s power broker \u2013 to \u201cclear off\u201d as police deployed massively across the centre of the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not tolerate Bensalah,\u201d protester Ismail Omrani said. \u201cHe will not remain the head of the state as he said yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamid, a civil servant, added that any dialogue \u201cshould be with the real holder of power, and that means the army. Bensalah does not make the decisions\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Masquerade\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dalia Ghanem Yazbeck, a researcher at the Carnegie Middle East Centre based in Beirut, told the AFP news agency that the protesters won points with the cancellation of the July 4 elections.<\/p>\n

But on the other hand, she said, the planned polls \u201cwere a non-event because from a logistical point of view it would have been impossible to organise the elections\u201d.<\/p>\n

While Gaid Salah had pushed for the polls, July 4 looked increasingly implausible as no major party nominated a candidate.<\/p>\n

A major obstacle emerged when some mayors and magistrates said they would not take part in organising the elections.<\/p>\n

The two unknown figures who put themselves forward \u2013 Abdelhakim Hamadi and Hamid Touahri \u2013 had not been expected to gather the necessary 60 000 voter signatures to validate their bid for office.<\/p>\n

Yazbeck said \u201cno one wants to run in the election and take part in this masquerade, and it is clear that the authorities cannot agree on a candidate to represent them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe authorities are improvising. There are no long term solutions and despite what they thought, the [protest] movement is not petering out,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Algerians have been demonstrating since February, after Bouteflika announced plans to seek a fifth term in office.<\/p>\n

Since his resignation, the army, the country\u2019s most powerful institution, has met a number of protesters\u2019 demands including launching anti-graft probes against people suspected of misuse of power and public funds.<\/p>\n

Last month, Bouteflika\u2019s youngest brother, Said, and two former intelligence chiefs were placed in custody by a military judge over allegations of \u201charming the army\u2019s authority and plotting against state authority\u201d.<\/p>\n

At least five businessmen, including the country\u2019s richest man, Issad Rebrab, who is active in the food industry and sugar refining, have been detained for alleged involvement in corruption scandals.<\/p>\n

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