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Algerians Stage Largest Protest Yet, Rejecting President’s Offer Algerians Stage Largest Protest Yet, Rejecting President’s Offer
(about 3 hours later)
ALGIERS — Tens of thousands of Algerians packed the streets of the capital on Friday in the largest protest yet against the rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a clear sign that they had rejected as insufficient his offer not to seek a fifth term as president.ALGIERS — Tens of thousands of Algerians packed the streets of the capital on Friday in the largest protest yet against the rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a clear sign that they had rejected as insufficient his offer not to seek a fifth term as president.
“This wasn’t even a proposal,” said Chafika Kherici, a 42-year-old chemist who was there with her sister and nephew, with thousands of others in front of the city’s historic main post office. “Nobody is satisfied with it. We want to be free, and we want the government to leave.” “This wasn’t even a proposal,” said Chafika Kherici, a 42-year-old chemist who was there with her sister and nephew, along with thousands of others in front of the city’s historic main post office. “Nobody is satisfied with it. We want to be free, and we want the government to leave.”
For a fourth straight week, the crowd chanted over and over that Mr. Bouteflika’s time was up. The protesters said they were determined to carry on with what many called a revolution — a noisy, festive one of singing, chanting, drumming and shouting. “Anyway it’s not even a government, it’s a clan,” said Ms. Kherici.
Mr. Bouteflika, who was paralyzed by a stroke, uses a wheelchair and has not spoken publicly in seven years, has ruled Algeria for two decades. For a fourth straight week, the crowd chanted over and over that Mr. Bouteflika’s time was up. They had filled the streets even before the end of Friday prayers, the most important of the week. The protesters said they were determined to carry on with what many called a revolution — a noisy, festive one with singing, chanting, drumming and shouting.
On Monday, his government offered a deal to quiet the protests, canceling the April presidential election scheduled for April, removing Mr. Bouteflika as a candidate, and promising a “national conference” to chart the country’s future. Mr. Bouteflika, who was paralyzed by a stroke, 82, is in a wheelchair and has not spoken publicly in seven years, has ruled Algeria for two decades.
But the proposal would have left Mr. Bouteflika in power at least until a successor was chosen, and there was no timeline offered for that. On Monday, his government offered a deal to quiet the protests, canceling the presidential election scheduled for April, removing Mr. Bouteflika as a candidate, installing a new low-profile prime minister, and promising a “national conference” to chart the country’s future.
But the proposal would have left Mr. Bouteflika in power at least until new elections were held, and no clear timeline for those was given.
On Friday, the protesters gave the government their answer, shouting over and over that Mr. Bouteflika and his circle must go.On Friday, the protesters gave the government their answer, shouting over and over that Mr. Bouteflika and his circle must go.
Many in the crowd said it was simply not up to Mr. Bouteflika and his cronies to impose a solution to the country’s crisis.Many in the crowd said it was simply not up to Mr. Bouteflika and his cronies to impose a solution to the country’s crisis.
“We just want him to stop being our president,” said Bouhalissa Narimane, a 23-year-old student. “He’s clearly not going to leave until he’s actually dead. They are all part of the problem. He can’t be part of the solution.”“We just want him to stop being our president,” said Bouhalissa Narimane, a 23-year-old student. “He’s clearly not going to leave until he’s actually dead. They are all part of the problem. He can’t be part of the solution.”
“And they can’t tell us who can be in the government,” she added. “We decide.”“And they can’t tell us who can be in the government,” she added. “We decide.”
Wave upon wave of youths descended the seaside capital’s steeply pitched streets in tight ranks, chanting “Get rid of the clique, we’ll be better off!” and “the street will never shut up” or simply, “Government, killers!” Ms. Narimane was holding up a sign saying, “Give us our liberty. We’re asking for it nicely.” The crowds Friday were peaceful as they have been throughout the weeks of demonstrations. It was like a gigantic family reunion, with little children held aloft by their parents, the elderly, smartly dressed algerois and workers in overalls all taking part and erupting occasionally in songs from Algeria’s revolution against France.
Rows of impassive police officers stood by as the crowds surged through the streets of shabby, dust-covered buildings. “Take off your helmets, and join us,” a band of youth chanted to them. “This is the first time we’ve all been together since 1962,” the date of Algeria’s independence, “and it’s all because of Bouteflika,” said Nourdine Nana, 59, a shopkeeper. “So, I’m thanking him,” he said with a smile. “But, he’s got to get lost.”
The police only looked down glumly. “The government and the ‘system,’ they’ve all got to go,” said Mr. Nana, using the name many Algerians give to the regime and its supporters.
Wave upon wave of youths descended the seaside capital’s steeply pitched streets in tight ranks, chanting, “Get rid of the clique, we’ll be better off!” and, “The street will never shut up,” or simply, “Government, killers!” A symphony of car horns accompanied the demonstrators.
Rows of impassive police officers stood by as the crowds surged through the streets of shabby, dust-covered buildings downtown. “Take off your helmets, and join us,” a band of youth chanted to them.
The police simply looked down glumly.
The Algerian protests erupted unexpectedly after years of what had appeared to be passive acceptance of Mr. Bouteflika’s severely diminished condition. When the clique around the aging president said they would run him for a fifth term, citizens took to the streets late in February, to express a sense of humiliation. His election would have been a foregone conclusion as elections in Algeria are neither free nor fair.
With unemployment affecting at least a quarter of Algeria’s youth, a government budget two-thirds dependent on oil and gas revenues and vulnerable to oil-price fluctuations, and rising anger over Mr. Bouteflika’s continued tenure, the stage was set for an explosion of popular rage.
Algeria is not a dictatorship —_ there is a semi-free press, and a vocal, if neutered, political opposition — but power is exercised in a way that is mysterious even to its own citizens, and is thought to emanate from a troika consisting of Mr. Bouteflika’s brother, a handful of powerful industrial chieftains who have benefited from state contracts, and the ever-present military in the person of the army chief of staff.
That opacity is a source of big frustration for Algerians. “We’re fed up with this ‘pouvoir,’”’ or ‘power,’ said Mohamed Sobhi, a shopkeeper, using a common word here for the regime. He had driven over 150 miles from the town of Djelfa to take part in the protests. “They’ve done a lot of harm to this generation,” he said. “Our lives have been ruined. Now, we can’t let them do this to our children. They’ve got to go. They allow themselves all the liberties. For us there is nothing.”
The government has warned of a vacuum if its plans are rejected. But opposition leaders dismiss these fears.
“The regime has got to fall first. We shouldn’t even be talking about structures yet,” said Lila Hadj Arab, the national secretary of the RCD party, one of the main opposition parties, in the party’s rickety headquarters, as crowds streamed down the Rue Didouche Mourad beneath her. “And we need to continue to mobilize until the fall of this regime,” she said.