Algerians Continue Rallies After Election Postponement - Reports

Algerians Continue Rallies After Election Postponement - Reports

Algerians have taken to the streets on Tuesday after the country's longtime leader, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, announced that he would give up on his intention to run for a fifth consecutive term and that the presidential election in the country, initially slated for April 18, would be postponed, local media reported

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2019) Algerians have taken to the streets on Tuesday after the country's longtime leader, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, announced that he would give up on his intention to run for a fifth consecutive term and that the presidential election in the country, initially slated for April 18, would be postponed, local media reported.

Bouteflika announced his decision on Monday amid mass protests that hit the country after the 82-year-old president officially announced that he would seek re-election. However, even though Bouteflika pledged to seek major changes to the country's government and said that a new constitution would be drafted, Algerians were dissatisfied with the fact that Bouteflika had failed to specify the new date of the election and to say how long the transition period would last.

Thousands of Algerian students are taking part in rallies at the Place Maurice Audin and near the central post office in the country's capital of Algiers, the TSA media outlet reported. Protesters shouted slogans such as "No to term extension" and "We don't want [Noureddine] Bedoui," the former interior minister who replaced former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia after the latter resigned amid protests.

In the northern Algerian port city of Bejaia students took to the streets alongside employees of the state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach. Bejaia's transport companies continued their strike for the third consecutive day.