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AFP
Algiers
Around a thousand Algerian lawyers demonstrated Saturday in the capital calling for regime change in the North African country, where veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid to stay in power has sparked weeks of protests.
The demonstration, coinciding with National Lawyer’s Day in Algeria, came a day after hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Algiers and across the country, for the fifth consecutive Friday, to keep the pressure on Bouteflika to quit.
Chanting “we’re fed up” with this government and calling on the political system to “go away”, the lawyers, wearing their black robes, waved Algerian flags and held up placards saying “no to a violation of the constitution”.
Bouteflika said on February 22 he would run for a fifth term in April 18 elections, despite concerns about his ability to rule. The 82-year-old uses a wheelchair and has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
On March 11, after returning home from medical checkups in Switzerland, he made the surprise announcement that he was pulling out of the race–and also postponed the polls.
Protesters initially greeted the move with elation, but since then they have staged further mass demonstrations after realising he intends to remain in office.
On Saturday, lawyers from across the country rallied in a square outside the main post office in Algiers which has become the emblematic gathering for demonstrations.
Algiers
Around a thousand Algerian lawyers demonstrated Saturday in the capital calling for regime change in the North African country, where veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid to stay in power has sparked weeks of protests.
The demonstration, coinciding with National Lawyer’s Day in Algeria, came a day after hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Algiers and across the country, for the fifth consecutive Friday, to keep the pressure on Bouteflika to quit.
Chanting “we’re fed up” with this government and calling on the political system to “go away”, the lawyers, wearing their black robes, waved Algerian flags and held up placards saying “no to a violation of the constitution”.
Bouteflika said on February 22 he would run for a fifth term in April 18 elections, despite concerns about his ability to rule. The 82-year-old uses a wheelchair and has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
On March 11, after returning home from medical checkups in Switzerland, he made the surprise announcement that he was pulling out of the race–and also postponed the polls.
Protesters initially greeted the move with elation, but since then they have staged further mass demonstrations after realising he intends to remain in office.
On Saturday, lawyers from across the country rallied in a square outside the main post office in Algiers which has become the emblematic gathering for demonstrations.
