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Algeria: president sacks campaign manager as protests continue
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| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Mar 03, 2019 12:24pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Ruth Michaelson |
| News Date | Sunday, March 3, 2019 05:40:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Algeria’s ailing president has sacked his campaign manager as the nation’s elite moved to consolidate its power in the face of historic mass protests.
Tension continued to rise on Sunday, with students taking to the streets as the protests entered their second week. Observers waited to see if the president, AbdelazizBouteflika, would return from medical treatment in Geneva to submit his candidacy before Sunday’s midnight deadline.
Tens of thousands of Algerians protested across the country on Friday to demand that the 82-year-old leader renounce his bid for a fifth term. Bouteflika has made few public appearances or speeches since suffering a stroke in 2013, fuelling speculation that the country is effectively run by his brother and adviser Saïd, the head of the military, Ahmed Gaïd Salah, and a cabal of opaque political and military officials known as le pouvoir, or “the power”.
In a sign of tensions at the top and the regime’s determination to maintain power, Bouteflika suddenly sacked his campaign manager Abdelmalek Sellal on Saturday. He was replaced by Abdelghani Zalène, a former transport minister, who did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by the Guardian.
Rumours have been rife that the Algerian elite would seek to replace Bouteflika with another candidate to ensure the long-term survival of the regime he has headed since 1999, but there was little to suggest on the day of the deadline that the president and his entourage would cede to the demands of the protesters. |
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