Algeria’s interim president promised on Tuesday to organise free elections within 90 days, following protests rejecting his newly appointed position.
In a televised interview, Abdelkader Bensalah said that he was “committed to organising elections.”
“We – citizens, the political class and state institutions – must work to ensure the conditions, all conditions, are right for a transparent and regular presidential poll,” he said during a televised address on Tuesday.
He promised to “set a national and sovereign commission to secure fair elections” in an apparent bid to placate demonstrators demanding sweeping democratic reforms and economic opportunities.
The army was aligned with the constitution as a pathway out of the crisis, he added in his 16-minute speech.
Bensalah’s appointment comes after the resignation of ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, following weeks of protests calling for an overhaul of the current political system.
However, the choice of Bensalah angered many as protests grew in central Algiers.
On Tuesday police used water canons to disperse crowds demonstrating against his appointment.
A long-time ally of Bouteflika, he is seen by protesters as part of an ageing and out-of-touch ruling caste that has dominated since independence from France in 1962.
“Appointing Bensalah will fuel anger and it could radicalise the protesters,” taxi driver Hassen Rahmine told Reuters.
Demonstrations initially erupted on Feb. 22, leading to the disintegration of what has been described as the ruling elite’s “fortress” – veterans of the war of independence against France, ruling party figures, businessmen, the army and labour unions.
Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gaid Salah managed Bouteflika’s exit after declaring him unfit to stay in power and expressed support for protesters, who have put up little resistance to the military.
But Algerians want more radical change.
“You go means you go,” read banners at the protest in the capital on Tuesday, reiterating the desire of many Algerians to remove all remnants of a secretive political and military establishment that has dominated for decades.
On stepping down, Bouteflika promised that elections would be held after 90 days as part of a transition to usher in what he said would be a new era.
