Algeria’s Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui pledged to form a new, youthful and technocratic government that would work towards a solution to the weeks of demonstrations demanding an overhaul of the current political system.
Prime Minister Bedoui made the statement in response to anger against a decision by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to postpone the election on April 18 indefinitely shortly after abandoning plans to run for a fifth term in office. Bouteflika, instead, said there would be a national conference to carry out reform and set a date for new elections, a move many Algerians see as a way of extending his fourth term.
Bedoui, while urging the opposition to accept dialogue, said the constitution of the Cabinet would be one that “represents all the forces, especially the youthful ones the nation”. He further sought to assure citizens that this government will have a short period, and its role will be to support the national conference and what Algerians agree upon.
“We have understood the message from Algerian youth in the protests.” Prime Minister Bedoui said in his address.
Critics dismissed his statements saying they are not willing to negotiate, at least at the moment. A youth leader questioned why Algerians should trust certain people to handle a democratic transition within a year when they were unable to effect real political changes in 20 years.
“They aim at stifling the overwhelmingly peaceful protest movement,” Abdelwahab Fersaoui, of the Rassemblement Action Jeunesse, told Al Jazeera.
Bouteflika, 82, has been in power for 20 years but has rarely been in the public light after suffering a stroke in 2013. A big gathering of protestors is expected on Friday as Algerians continue their push for quick political change and to have the president and veterans of the 1954-1962 war of independence cede power to the people.
