The Algerian army chief, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, called on Tuesday for a constitutional move that would see President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office following weeks of mass protests against his long rule.
Addressing army officers in a speech broadcast on state TV, Salah said the solution would be based on Article 102 of the constitution and achieve a consensus of "all visions and parties". That article applies under certain conditions, such as deteriorating health.
Bouteflika, 82, has rarely surfaced in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
The next formal step is for the constitutional council to formally declare Bouteflika unfit for office, a decision that members of parliament's lower and upper house need to ratify by a two-thirds majority.
Based on Article 102, the chairman of parliament's upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days.
El Bilad television said the constitutional council had convened in special session after Salah's intervention.
In what seemed like paradox, some of Bouteflika's top supporters welcomed the general's proposal, while opposition parties railed against it. They included the Front for Socialist Forces, which denounced what it dubbed a move against "the popular will ... the departure of the system and its men, not just the head of state."
Another opposition group, the Rally for Culture and Democracy denounced, what it called "an attempted coup d'etat."
"Gaid Salah is part of our misfortune. He can in no way be the solution," party spokesman Yassine Aissiouane said in a statement.
The main moderate Islamist party, the Movement for a Peaceful Society, said the army chief's proposal could lead to a solution — but only if the people's demands are answered first.
"The military institution should be limited to the role of an accompanist," a party statement said.
