Algeria’s Bouteflika resigns amid mass protests – state media

Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned with immediate effect, according to state media, ceding power in the face of massive street protests against his 20-year rule.

The ailing, 82-year-old leader announced he was standing down in a letter published by APS news agency on Tuesday, shortly after the army chief demanded immediate action to remove him from office.

“My intention … is to contribute to calming down the souls and minds of the citizens so that they can collectively take Algeria to the better future they aspire to,” Bouteflika said in the letter to the president of the Constitutional Council.

“I have made this decision to avoid and prevent the arguments which distort, unfortunately, the current situation, and avoid its turning into serious skirmishes, to ensure the protection of persons and property,” Bouteflika added.

The announcement prompted celebrations in Algeria’s capital, Algiers, with hundreds of people singing songs and waving flags in front of the city’s central post office.

“This is a victory for my country,” said 25-year-old Kamel, who only gave his first name. “We now want the rest of the old guard to leave, we also want the corrupt businessmen to be judged. We have won one political battle, not yet the war.”

???? #Urgent
Le président de la République, Abdelaziz #Bouteflika, a notifié officiellement au président du #Conseil_constitutionnel, sa décision de mettre fin à son mandat en qualité de président de la République. pic.twitter.com/cjunX9gwsL

— APS | وأج (@APS_DZ) April 2, 2019

Translation: “President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, officially notified the president of the constitutional council his decision to end his mandate as president of the Republic.”

‘Time for a new generation’

The protests against Bouteflika broke out in late February when the longtime president, who has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, announced a plan to seek a fifth term in elections scheduled for April.

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the protests in Algiers and other major cities for several weeks.

On March 11, Bouteflika sought to defuse the unrest by abandoning his re-election bid. However, he delayed the vote indefinitely and announced he would only step down once a new constitution had been passed and a successor had been elected.

But public anger continued to mount, prompting key allies to abandon the president.

Ahmed Gaid Salah, the army’s chief of staff, called for Bouteflika to be declared unfit to rule, and on Monday, the embattled leader said he would quit before the end of his term on April 28. 

Algerians have been protesting against Bouteflika since late February [Ryad Kramdi/ AFP]

On Tuesday, Salah reiterated his demand for impeachment proceedings, saying: “There is no more room to waste time.”

He added in a statement: “We decided clearly…to stand with the people so all their demands get fulfilled.”

Pressure had been building during the day on Tuesday with opposition groups demanding Bouteflika go immediately, while hundreds of students marched through Algiers to demand to replacement of a political system widely seen as incapable of significant reform.

Bouteflika’s resignation will put Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of the upper house of parliament, in charge as caretaker president for 90 days until elections are held.

Benjamin Brower, a historian at University of Texas, said he feared Salah was positioning himself to take control.

“He precipitated Bouteflika’s resignation today with a speech that he gave earlier in the day calling for an immediate step down of the president,” Brower told Al Jazeera.

“I think that’s a person who wants to see himself in some kind of power but I think the question is whether that’s ratified by the demonstrators in the street who have an immense energy and momentum moving into this after six weeks of demonstrations where they’ve really driven the political events forward in a way that we haven’t seen in Algeria perhaps ever.”

In Algiers, 65-year-old Halima said she intended to continue to protest until Bouteflika’s allies also stepped down. 

“We are turning a page in Algeria’s history,” she told Al Jazeera. “Bouteflika’s removal is not enough. We want all the veterans to leave … It is now time for a new generation of leaders to take over.”

Bouteflika comes out from a polling booth before casting his vote at a polling station in Algiers, Algeria, 29 November 2012 [File: Mohamed Messara/EPA]

Djamila Ould Khettab contributed in this report from Algiers.