{"id":3342,"date":"2019-03-12T17:44:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=3342"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:44:51","slug":"algeria-protests-against-bouteflika-continue-despite-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2019\/03\/12\/algeria-protests-against-bouteflika-continue-despite-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Algeria protests against Bouteflika continue despite talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hundreds of protesters have marched through the Algerian capital demanding President Abdelaziz Bouteflika&#8217;s immediate resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, the president postponed the 18 April presidential elections and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-africa-47531917\">dropped his bid for a fifth term<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Protesters are accusing the president of a ploy to prolong his 20-year rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Talks have been set up to negotiate Algeria&#8217;s political future, which will be led by veteran UN diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why have the protests continued?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The protesters, who chanted &#8220;No tricks, Bouteflika&#8221;, had responded to calls on social media to continue the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the messages said: &#8220;We will march more determined than ever to end this system, to end this mafia. We want a republican and democratic state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;No to manipulation, let&#8217;s be vigilant. The battle is not won.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/16146\/production\/_105983409_mediaitem105981043.jpg\" alt=\"Abdelaziz Bouteflika pictured at his palace in 2017. He has not spoken in public since 2014\" \/><figcaption>Image captionAbdelaziz Bouteflika has led the country for 20 years but has not spoken in public since 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, the president named Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui as the new prime minister to replace Ahmed Ouyahia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Protesters claimed the move was proof that &#8220;those in power want to stay&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BBC North Africa correspondent Rana Jawad said that to satisfy the protesters&#8217; demands, a timetable for the president&#8217;s departure was needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-africa-47456114\">How does reclusive President Bouteflika run Algeria?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/av\/world-africa-47504013\/algeria-protests-what-s-behind-them\">Video: What&#8217;s behind Algeria protests?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-africa-47528292\">Judges refuse to oversee Algeria poll<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the aim of the talks?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A conference, which does not yet have a set date, will aim to oversee the country&#8217;s political transition, draft a new constitution and set the date for elections.ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Brahimi, who was the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014, met the president on Monday and said it was necessary to &#8220;turn this crisis into a constructive process&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">French President Emmanuel Macron said the decision marked a new chapter for Algeria and called for a reasonable transition period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/48A6\/production\/_105989581_020767534-1.jpg\" alt=\"Lakhdar Brahimi at a UN news conference\" \/><figcaption>Image captionLakhdar Brahimi is a member of The Elders, a human rights group made up of world leaders, founded by Nelson Mandela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Algerian military is expected to play an important role in the transition and is currently considering contenders for president, Reuters news agency reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among them is Mustafa Bouchachi, a lawyer and activist who has built up a strong Facebook following during the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Demonstrators and participants in Algeria&#8217;s 1954-1962 independence war will be among the representatives at the conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hundreds of protesters have marched through the Algerian capital demanding President Abdelaziz Bouteflika&#8217;s immediate resignation. On Monday, the president postponed the 18 April presidential elections and&nbsp;dropped his bid for a fifth term. Protesters are accusing the president of a ploy to prolong his 20-year rule. Talks have been set up to negotiate Algeria&#8217;s political future, which will be led by&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2019\/03\/12\/algeria-protests-against-bouteflika-continue-despite-talks\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3343,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3342\/revisions\/3343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}