Algerian protesters maintain pressure on Bouteflika

Algerians gathered in the hundreds of thousands in cities across the country today to maintain the weeks of peaceful protest against the continued rule of 82-year-old ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his circle.

Under relentless public pressure, the government has offered a series of concessions. However, none have quelled the tide of protest against Bouteflika’s continued rule. For protesters, both the president’s ailing health and the country’s economic and social stagnation have proven a tipping point. The country has seen years of growing dissatisfaction spill over into the widespread popular protests that have gripped the country since the initial demonstrations on Feb. 22.

“I'm here because we should all be here," one protester, who gave his name as Khalil Khalil Che, told Al-Monitor from Oran. "Everyone should be here every Friday to keep the pressure on the government. It can’t and won’t stop until we have our rights, because now the population knows everything and we know what we want."

In Algiers on Friday, as helicopters circled overhead, smiling demonstrators took selfies with watching policemen, as diverse groups of protesters, including families and children, crowded the city’s plazas chanting, “Bouteflika, get out." Some held banners proclaiming, "You pretend to understand us, we will pretend to listen to you," as thousands rallied against a president they no longer see as fit for office, overseeing a power structure they have come to regard as inherently corrupt.