Tens of thousands of protesters in Algeria turned out Friday to demonstrate against the government\u2019s latest attempt to pull the country out of its political impasse, clearly signaling popular rejection of a compromise offer by the Army this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demonstration, the sixth in a row, appeared to reinforce the deadlock: protesters have dismissed the proposal from the country\u2019s most powerful figure, Gen. Ahmed Ga\u00efd Salah, the army chief of staff, to sideline the ailing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, install as interim president the head of the Senate, and hold elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What happens next is unclear, but some opposition figures said it was now up to the government to make what one called a more serious offer. The crowds in the streets, increasingly pressing in their demands, want the wholesale removal of what they call \u201cthe System\u201d \u2014 everyone associated with Mr. Bouteflika\u2019s 20-year reign. So far the government has given no sign of conceding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In proposing Mr. Bouteflika\u2019s removal, General Ga\u00efd Salah, who had been the president\u2019s staunchest ally, went beyond what many had expected. But by invoking Article 102, of the Algerian constitution, a section that calls for the removal of the president if he is found unfit, the general left the rest of the ruling \u201cSystem\u201d in place \u2014 unacceptable in the eyes of many Algerians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Algeria\u2019s politics, frozen under Mr. Bouteflika, with an acquiescent populace cowed by the prospect of a return to the chaos of the 1990s civil war, is the most unsettled in many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demonstration on Friday was the biggest yet, observers there said, with a more determined crowd than ever. Protesters held up signs playing on the French for \u201c102\u201d \u2014 which spoken out loud sounds like \u201cWithout two\u201d \u2014 and the signs carried portraits of Mr. Bouteflika and his influential brother, Sa\u00efd, whom many say is the regime\u2019s real string-puller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m demonstrating against the system. We want it gone. There\u2019s too much injustice,\u201d said Yazid Zabchi, a 60-year-old retired teacher seated beside a metro station in downtown Algiers on Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s too late to apply Article 102,\u201d Mr. Zabchi continued, \u201cand this wouldn\u2019t be a change, anyway, it would just be for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdelkader Amirouche, a shopkeeper, held up a sign that mimicked the automated voice for wrong telephone numbers: \u201cThe number you have dialed, 102, is incorrect. Please dial 07,\u201d \u2014 the article in the Algerian constitution that declares, \u201cThe people are the source of all power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Amirouche agreed that \u201cwe can\u2019t accept 102, because it only serves their interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want Article 7 to be applied because it gives the last word to the people,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we are going to continue until they give up. We\u2019re not afraid. We\u2019re only afraid of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want their elections,\u201d Mr. Amirouche went on. \u201cWe don\u2019t trust them any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics of the government said the size of Friday\u2019s crowds left no doubt that General Ga\u00efd Salah\u2019s offer was unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was a response to the proposal to apply the 102, which would leave the symbols of the current system in place to manage the transition,\u201d Mostefa Bouchachi, a human rights lawyer in Algiers who has emerged as a leading opposition figure, said in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe message is very clear,\u201d Mr. Bouchachi continued. \u201cWe don\u2019t want these symbols of a corrupted system that has betrayed the popular will. We want real change. All of those who have been in government up until now, we want these people to leave. And we want a government of national unity to make this transition, men and women who are clean, who have not taken part in the misrule of the last 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether the demand for a wholesale housecleaning is realistic remains to be seen. Large vested interests, financial and political, are at stake. Many in the ruling elite, including in the army, have profited hugely from sweetheart deals, favorable loans by state banks and the state\u2019s largess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of Mr. Bouteflika\u2019s erstwhile allies have deserted him in recent weeks as the demonstrations have gained the upper hand. Words that could have landed their speakers in jail five months ago have suddenly become acceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Bouteflika regime is nothing but a cancer that is corrupting the body of the state,\u201d Seddik Chihab, a leading member of Mr. Bouteflika\u2019s coalition partner, the RND party, said on Algerian television this week. \u201cWe\u2019ve all got to recognize this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
General Ga\u00efd Salah himself has praised the demonstrators\u2019 patriotism. But that does not appear to be enough. His \u201coffer is rejected from top to bottom,\u201d said Abdoulmoum\u00e8ne Khelil, general-secretary of the Algeria human rights league, in a telephone interview from Algiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe citizens have understood that 102 simply means a rearranging of power, and not a democratic transition, that will allow the establishment of a new republic, and above all, new people,\u201d said Mr. Khelil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe message is clear,\u201d he said, \u201cand I hope it will be understood by those in power, and that they will come back with a more serious offer.\u201d
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tens of thousands of protesters in Algeria turned out Friday to demonstrate against the government\u2019s latest attempt to pull the country out of its political impasse, clearly signaling popular rejection of a compromise offer by the Army this week. The demonstration, the sixth in a row, appeared to reinforce the deadlock: protesters have dismissed the proposal from the country\u2019s most… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[138],"class_list":["post-3521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-new-york-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3522,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions\/3522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}