Army chief wants president declared unfit to lead
ALGERIA’S POWERFUL army chief said on Tuesday that he wants to trigger the constitutional process that would declare President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office after more than a month of mass protests against the ailing leader’s long rule.
The Algerian army’s chief of staff is one of the country’s top power brokers, so the announcement by General Ahmed Gaid Salah could pave the way for Bouteflika’s ouster after 20 years in power. The 82-year-old Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke.
Gaid Salah said in remarks carried on Algerian television that “the only guarantee for political stability” is to apply the article of the Algerian Constitution that empowers the Constitutional Council to determine if the president is too ill to fully exercise his functions and to ask lawmakers to declare him unfit.
If the request receives two-thirds majority approval in parliament, the Senate president takes charge of the government until a presidential election can be held, according to the constitutional procedure.
Protesters have called for the application of Article 102 during massive demonstrations that have been held in Algeria every Friday since February 22.
They accuse Bouteflika and his entourage of corruption, hoarding the gas-rich country’s wealth, and being out of touch with concerns of ordinary Algerians, especially struggling youth.
“In this context, it becomes necessary, even imperative, to adopt a solution to get out of the crisis which reflects the legitimate demands of the Algerian people,” Gaid Salah said in his televised address from a military base in the southern city of Ouargla.
Speeches by the army chief have been closely watched as he travels from region to region to inspect bases. The army has held a top role in the country’s power structure since Algeria won independence from France in 1962 after a brutal seven-year war. Gaid Salah recently softened his remarks, describing a link between protesters and the military.