Election protests: Algerian students rally in opposition to plans for July 4 vote

Algerian students take part in a demonstration near the presidential palace in the capital Algiers yesterday. Meanwhile, the country’s new army Chief Of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah urged demonstrators to accept presidential polls set for 4 July to elect a successor to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

As many as 46 Algerian organisations and associations announced on Sunday their “absolute rejection” of holding the elections on 4 July, and called on the army leadership to open dialogue with “political and societal classes” in order to find an acceptable solution to the crisis.