In August 2019, Netblocks, a study on Internet shutdowns found that Youtube and Google services were blocked by state-run Algeria Telecom and other Internet providers after a political opposition video was posted. demonstrators chanted. Algerian news website TSA reported crowds had gathered at other locations around the country. The �Algeria Stand Up� (Alg�rie � Debout! )
By 2006 Gaid-Salah was 7 yaers beyond the new mandatory retirement age and had served as Chief of Staff since August 2004. In short, no negotiations unless the protestors get the power. The military may back a relatively unknown �clean� candidate with no obvious links to the previous regime, who will honour the unwritten agreement of ruling as the civilian mask of the military�s power. script.setAttribute("src", "//www.npttech.com/advertising.js"); As Algeria prepares for the first presidential election since the removal of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, protests have intensified on the streets.

The coronavirus threat put paid to what would have been the 57th straight Friday of "Hirak" anti-regime protests since February 22, 2019, leaving mainly policemen, most wearing masks, out on the streets.

Upper house chairman Abdelkader Bensalah will reportedly be caretaker president for 45 days. In December 2018, Bouteflika, who has been wheelchair-bound since 2013, was unable to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he came to Algiers for a two-day visit due to acute flu. The military, headed by Ahmed Gaid Salah, sees an election as the only acceptable exit from the political impasse. The former believe elections cannot be held so long as remnants of the old regime are active and the people are not given the sovereignty afforded to them by the constitution to choose their next leader. var script = document.createElement("script");

"There will be no vote!" And on 02 April 2019, Gaid Salah, the country's powerful army chief and a long-time loyalist of the president, issued a strongly worded statement condemning "the gang that had seized control of" Algerians' destiny, in a direct reference to the president's inner circle, including elite cronies benefitting from the decades-long status quo. It did not set a new date for the presidential election, asking Bensalah to organise a vote at a later date, state television said. He said Algerian youth are not only calling for 81-year-old Bouteflika to not run in the upcoming election but also are demanding a change in the way their oil-rich country is governed. But Algeria�s rulers have been determined to hold the ballot on July 4, seeing it as the only way out of a crisis that forced Bouteflika to leave power in April after weeks of protests.

Despite Bouteflika�s departure, protesters have continued to stage mass demonstrations each Friday. The president's brother and special adviser Said has been widely seen as Algeria's de facto ruler since Abdelaziz's stroke, which severely impaired the president's speech. In 2007, US embassy contacts in Algeria described Gaid Salah, commander of Algerian military forces, as "perhaps the most corrupt official in the military apparatus". Bouteflika�s supporters say his mind remains sharp, even though he needs a microphone to speak. Algeria cannot hold a presidential election planned for July 4 due to a lack of valid candidates, its constitutional council said on 02 June 2019, prolonging the country's transition after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned two months earlier. Despite calling for the departure of the unpopular prime minister Noureddine Bedoui, former prime minister Ali Benflis�who has attempted, and failed, to bag the presidency twice against Bouteflika�is hoping to succeed in 2019. Five candidates would run in Algeria�s presidential election, including two former prime ministers, the head of the election authority said on 02 November 2019, amid mass protests rejecting the vote. According to the current constitution, the Senate president would become president of the republic if Bouteflika dies in office.
The bloc comprises parties like National Liberation Front, headed by Bouteflika himself and the National Rally for Democracy, led by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia. The army wants a return to normality and the end to a period of constitutional limbo in which an interim president holds office until a new election. Security forces had been mostly restrained. At least 25�people were arrested before Friday's march. "To come out onto the streets in such huge numbers is an act of courage by the Algerian people. Relying on a legitimacy buoyed by his perceived victimhood under Bouteflika�s presidency and his backing of the popular movement (despite coming out in support of Bouteflika�s fifth term in January this year), his chances of capturing public trust are slim. The statement noted challenges hindering the political process, establishes corruption and creates gangs, is the impartiality of elections and lack of neutrality of state institutions. Tayeb Belaiz informed the council, which will play a key role in upcoming presidential elections, that "he presented his resignation... to the head of state". Bedoui's departure was a major demand of protesters, who in early April forced long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit, and who had rejected fresh polls until there is a more thorough change of the power structure.

script.setAttribute("async", true); �Once again, civil society is offering the answers, not the state.�, @media only screen and (min-device-width : 320px) and (max-device-width : 480px) { Since taking office in 1999, Bouteflika is credited for restoring peace in Algeria following a brutal civil war that killed upwards of 100,000 people. The 2019 presidential elections would decide current President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's future in power. A photographer and journalist from local media were briefly detained by police and removed from the protests before being released, an AFP journalist said. It did not set a new date. It is an unorganized movement seeking radical and dramatic change, not just social and political reforms. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a former Algerian prime minister who served under deposed leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was elected president of the protest-wracked country after a vote marred by unrest and low turnout.