Algerians want all old-regime figures to leave

Algerian police have tried but failed to break up protests taking place in the capital, Algiers, demanding the departure of all figures associated with the regime of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Chanting “They will all leave,” protesters gathered outside the Grand Post Office — the epicenter of the anti-regime rallies that erupted on February 22 — on Friday after social media calls for protests to demand the ouster of Bouteflika’s close allies.

Riot police tried to disperse the protesters but were surrounded by hundreds of them, effectively being overwhelmed. The demonstrators then cleared a path for the police forces to withdraw, chanting “Peaceful, Peaceful.”

Police and troops had initially tried to block off access to the landmark site. Demonstrators, however, defiantly made their way to the site.

“We will be out in large numbers, very large. They don’t know what’s coming. They won’t be able to do anything against us,” Yassine, a 23-year-old protester, said before the protests began.

The Friday gathering was the first since the government announced the date of a new presidential election. According to a Wednesday statement, the country will hold the vote on July 4.

The announcement followed the appointment of the speaker of the upper house of the Algerian parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, as interim president, following the resignation of ailing Bouteflika in the face of weeks of mass demonstrations against his rule.

SS