Does the army attempt another coup despite the street protests? Three days after the announcement of the new presidential election date set for December 12, Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaïd Salah said Wednesday (September 18th) that he ordered the gendarmerie to prevent access to the capital by protesters from other regions.

"I gave instructions to the national gendarmerie" to prevent the arrival of protesters "other wilayas" (prefectures) in Algiers, said the strongman of the country since the forced resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, April 2 .

In his speech delivered in Tamanrasset, in the extreme south of Algeria, Ahmed Gaïd Salah, who is also vice-minister of defense, motivated his approach by the existence of "certain parts (...) with malicious intentions, ( who) make freedom of movement a pretext to justify their dangerous behavior ", which" consists in creating all the factors that disturb the peace of the citizens ".

These "parties", which he does not identify precisely, drain "every week citizens (...) to the capital to amplify human flows in public places, with tendentious slogans that have nothing 'innocent', he argued. The Algerian army has carte blanche to stop and seize "vehicles and coaches" to dissuade the demonstrators.

"It's really shocking.While denouncing the closure of access to the capital on several occasions, the Deputy Minister of Defense publicly assumes to instruct the security forces to block access to Algiers", told AFP Me Said Salhi, vice president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH). This decision is "illegal", he added, saying that there was "no regulation in this sense, on the contrary: the Constitution guarantees Algerian citizens equality and freedom of movement."

"Break the mobilization"

For Moussaab Hammoudi, researcher in political science at the School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS) contacted by France 24, the ban on access to Algiers "is the beginning of an authoritarian drift. It's unprecedented. Algiers has never been denied access. General Gaïd Salah is trying to break the mobilization. "

For nearly seven months, Algeria is the scene, every Friday, of demonstrations against the power. These led to the resignation of President Bouteflika in April, but they continued unabated with the slogan of leaving all representatives of the "system".

After tolerating "gigantic demonstrations" at the beginning of the movement, the military regime has been trying to harden its tone in recent weeks by imprisoning dozens of people, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced. . "The authorities arrested people who only waved a flag or a sign. They imprisoned a veteran of the war of independence because he had criticized the army, they also prevented meetings of political parties and associations, and blocked a leading news site "says the organization.

>> To read also: "A will to break the movement"

A court in Algiers on Thursday ordered the provisional detention of the opponent and is part of the dispute that shakes Algeria Fodil Boumala, accused in particular of "attack on national unity", according to one of his lawyers . The former national TV journalist was arrested Wednesday evening in front of his home, a week after the arrest of the opponent Karim Tabou, imprisoned on September 12 and Samir Benlarbi, also incarcerated for "attacking national unity" .

According to Moussaab Hammoudi, if General Ahmed Gaïd Salah hardened the tone, it is to remain master of the game in the face of the popular movement. "Gaïd Salah is challenged within the military command. And if he makes all these media statements, it is to prove something to his clan ".

Duel between power and protesters

The will to prevent access to Algiers protesters comes after the announcement of a new date of the presidential election scheduled for December 12 by the acting President Abdelkader Bensalah. Originally scheduled for April 18, it was first postponed to July 4, but had not finally been held due to lack of candidates. "There is no need for anyone to look for false pretenses to question the integrity of the electoral process or hinder it," said Wednesday Ahmed Gaïd Salah.

But the chief of staff faces rejection by the protest movement of the holding of an election while the current government is in charge. The protesters demand beforehand the dismantling of the apparatus inherited from the 20 years of Bouteflika's presidency, as well as the establishment of transitional institutions, which the power always refuses.

>> To read also: The holding of the presidential elections in Algeria could "radicalize the mobilization"

The students, for their part, demonstrated for the thirtieth consecutive week, expressing their persistent opposition to the holding of the presidential election. "The regime bet on a shortness of protest, but this did not happen. We are in front of personalities who are supposed to be obsolete, and who try to maintain themselves. But the popular rejection is of a great magnitude. It's a face-to-face, a duel that commits "says the researcher in political science.

Friday, many protesters should still flock to Algiers, defying the ban on the army, for once again contest the holding of the presidential election.