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Algerian army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah lobbied for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down from power in the face of mbadive protests. By – (ALGERIA CANAL / AFP)
The Algerian army on Tuesday called for the immediate launch of an impeachment proceeding against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who rejected the announcement of his resignation before his term expired.
The head of the armed forces, Ahmed Gaid Salah, called for "the immediate implementation of the constitutional procedure to remove the head of state from power", in a statement from the Ministry of Defense after a meeting at high level.
According to the statement, the army estimated that a presidential announcement on Monday that Bouteflika would resign by the end of his term on April 28 would be invalid because it did not come from the president himself .
"Any decision taken outside the constitutional framework is considered null and void," said the general.
Without naming anyone, Gaid Salah criticized "the stubbornness, procrastination and cunning of some individuals who try to prolong the crisis and make it more complex, the only concern being their narrow personal interests".
He added that the "only ambition" of the army was to "protect the people from a handful of people (others) who have unduly grabbed the wealth of the Algerian people".
Bouteflika is under increasing pressure to withdraw from power since his decision to run for a fifth term while he was rarely seen in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.
The 82-year-old wheelchair user announced last month that he was pulling out of the race and postponed the April elections, which angered the protesters.
Gaid Salah, Bouteflika's long-time ally, called on the president to resign or be declared unfit to govern, becoming one of the first followers of his party to abandon him.
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