Thousands of people demonstrated in the Algerian capital yesterday, rejecting the holding of the presidential elections scheduled for December 12, and calls for a general strike on Sunday, while the Algerian army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Kayed Saleh, confirmed that the presidential ballot will be held on time.
The demonstrators, including students and citizens, marched from the Martyrs Square beneath the old Kasbah neighborhood to the Central Post Square where the protest movement began on 22 February. On Sunday, they also demanded the release of the Harak detainees.
The demonstrators also demanded the departure of all the remnants of the former regime symbols, considering the holding of presidential elections at the current stage in these circumstances, an order against the popular will, and called on the demonstrators not to interfere with the leadership of the staff in politics, shouting «civil state, not military».
Protesters reiterated their refusal to oversee the elections symbols of the regime of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and demand new transitional bodies.
Algeria's railway workers began a sudden strike, which halted traffic on many local and national lines.
The Algerian Railway Transport Company announced a temporary suspension of train trips in the Algiers suburb, against the backdrop of the sudden protest movement of workers of some train stations.
The company explained that it had to cancel some flights because of this strike, calling on passengers to take the necessary measures for their movements pending the regularization of the normal status of trains as soon as possible.
Five candidates were put forward for the presidential elections, all of whom at one time participated in or supported Bouteflika's rule, making them unacceptable.
For his part, Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of Staff of the Algerian army, Lieutenant General Ahmed Kayed Saleh, yesterday, the holding of presidential elections on time, pointing out that «the presidential election is an irreversible completion».
In a speech to the second military area in Oran, Saleh said that «the strong popular gesture heralds the approach of the breakthrough situation and the passage of Algeria to safety».