The Algerian parliament's lower house the People's National Assembly elected the chamber's new speaker, Slimane Chenine, after its previous president had to step down amid anti-government protests, media reported
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2019) The Algerian parliament's lower house the People's National Assembly elected the chamber's new speaker, Slimane Chenine, after its previous president had to step down amid anti-government protests, media reported.
Chenine was supported late on Wednesday by all main parliamentary factions, including members of the former ruling National Liberation Front party, An-Nahar newspaper reported.
The speaker from the Islamist opposition party replaced Moad Bouchareb, who had resigned after protesters and lawmakers urged him to step down because of his affiliation with former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned in early April.
Bouteflika, 82, gave up the post that he had been holding for nearly 20 years after a wave of mass protests hit the country in response to his decision to seek a fifth presidential term.
The protests, however, failed to subside as people started demanding that all key government figures that had been serving under the president and the Armed Forces' leadership resign.
Then-speaker of the upper house and Bouteflika's ally, Abdelkader Bensalah, took over the role of the head of state for 90 days and pledged to hold presidential election on July 4. The vote, however, has been since indefinitely postponed because of the lack of candidates.
