After weeks of protests, Algeria remains in a state of flux. Hopes among the country’s ingrained political elite that the resignation of ailing former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika would return the country to its former state of managed calm were dashed on April 9, as protesters numbering in the thousands flooded the country’s streets to oppose the appointment of his constitutionally mandated successor, Abdelkader Bensalah.

Promising fresh elections for July 4, Bensalah remains hamstrung both by a constitution limiting his ability to introduce the change the streets are demanding as well as his status as what France24 termed a “seasoned regime insider.”

Facing a tidal wave of peaceful opposition unleashed by the 82-year-old former president's fifth run for office, many see Bensalah’s appointment as a stalling tactic intended to buy time for the entrenched circle, the “pouvoir,” of military, industrial and powerful trade union figures that have coalesced around the presidency. However, with every backtrack and concession the government has made to date only fueling further protest, it is unclear if fresh elections will stem the tide of popular unrest.

On the streets, the verdict on Bensalah’s appointment was clear. In Algiers, sporadic clashes between police and protesters broke out against a background of tear gas, water cannon and demonstrators’ collective choruses of “peaceful, peaceful.” Elsewhere, in cities across Algeria, demonstrations went on without incident, with the country’s protesters still clinging to the filial bonds many told Al-Monitor still held them and the ranks of the security services together.