Algerian protests force president to resign after 20 years in power
Change is on the horizon in Algeria. The nation celebrated in the streets on Tuesday after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was in power for 20 years, abruptly resigned following weeks of mass protests in the capital city of Algiers.
The 82-year-old Bouteflika had not been seen often in public following a stroke in 2013, but had retained the office of the presidency. But he finally relinquished the position after the army's chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, who holds great sway in Algeria, demanded Bouteflika officially step down. The resignation is not itself surprising — Bouteflika agreed to leave office before the end of his term on April 28 — but Salah reportedly decided that those terms were issued by "unconstitutional and unauthorized parties," per Reuters.
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Those demands came largely from young protesters who were tired of Bouteflika's hold on the government and wanted change. However, some of the protesters called for a complete overhaul of the political system, in which the military plays a significant role. The chair of the upper house of parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, will reportedly take over as a caretaker president. But protesters are not satisfied with that outcome, believing it perpetuates the corruption of the current system.
"What is important to us is that we do not accept the new caretaker government," Mustapha Bouchachi, a protest leader and lawyer, told Reuters. "Peaceful protests will continue."
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