Algeria unions refuse to back new PM’s govt. formation efforts
Over a dozen Algerian unions have refused to support the newly-appointed prime minister’s efforts to establish a new administration aimed at appeasing the protesters demanding the resignation of ailing President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika.
Noureddine Bedoui was appointed the new Algerian premier last week after his predecessor, Ahmed Ouyahia, resigned in the wake of weeks-long mass rallies.
Bedoui promised to form an inclusive technocratic government. That promise has, however, failed to soothe the protesters.
Leaders of 13 independent unions on Monday rejected the premier’s call for them to enter negotiations.
“We will not hold discussions with this system, we belong to the people and the people said ‘No’ to the system,” Boualem Amora, one of the leaders of the education sector unions, told reporters.
On March 11, Bouteflika bowed to the mass demonstrations against his 20-year rule and abandoned a decision to seek a fifth term, but he stopped short of stepping down.
He also canceled the upcoming elections without setting a new date, meaning he will likely remain in power for some time. The decision drew fire from the protesters, who took to the streets again.
The 82-year-old wheelchair-bound leader is reportedly in poor health after suffering a stroke in 2013.
Algerians have barely seen their ailing president since then.
The demonstrators are also angry about corruption and secrecy in Algeria’s power structure.
The protesters say they disapprove of the country’s old political system, dominated by veterans of the 1954-62 independence war against France, including the president himself.
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