The letter of resignation carries the stamp of the presidential office. A signature by hand is not visible – only the typewritten name Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The document declares his resignation on behalf of the 82-year-old, seriously ill President with immediate effect. The state news agency APS publishes the message first. And it’s like wildfire in Algeria.
People are singing in front of the big post office in Algiers, cars are racing wildly through the streets. Bouteflika, who ruled Algeria for 20 years, is history. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators had called for this again and again over the past six weeks.
A little later, the state television presents the top news of the evening with pictures. Viewers see a visibly disoriented bouteflika, allegedly taken in the office of the Constitutional Council, where he hands over his resignation letter. He barely manages to pass a thin briefcase across the table.
Influenced by the statement of army chief Salah?
Whether this resignation was actually Bouteflika’s own decision, to know at that time only himself and his environment. Even before the resignation letter becomes public, Algeria’s powerful army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah had already issued a communiqué. He claimed that Bouteflika had to be declared „incapable“ for health reasons under Article 102 of the Constitution. Shortly thereafter, the resignation letter appeared.
But in the statement of the army chief is even more: The Algerian presidential office is dominated by a – so literally – „gang“. This gang is making official statements on behalf of the ill bouteflika.
In Algeria, this is interpreted as a clear indication of the massive influence of Said Bouteflika. He is a brother of the president and his closest adviser. Algeria’s army chief apparently accused him of pursuing his own interests on behalf of his ill brother.
Algeria is now facing a three-month transition period. Opposition politicians and protesters had repeatedly demanded that this transitional phase should be controlled by credible people, also accepted by the protest movement.
Zoubida Assoul of the left-wing UCP Party reiterated that, „before he leaves, he should allow people to take over who have credibility and have not been involved in the regime over the past 20 years.“
Bensalah takes over temporarily
That’s not what happens now. In the transition phase, the chairman of the National Council, 77-year-old Abdelkader Bensalah, takes office. He is considered a longtime follower Bouteflikas and as a product of the system.
Bensalah must organize presidential elections within 90 days. And in the background, the events just before the resignation of Bouteflika have once again clearly shown, is always the mighty army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah.
Hope abroad
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he was backing a „democratic transition“ in Algeria. A US State Department spokesman commented on Bouteflika’s resignation, pointing out that the Algerian people must now decide how to shape the transition.
