Algeria’s Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia is facing mounting pressure from lobbyists of his own party, the Democratic National Rally (DNR), who are demanding his departure. Protests are being held for his removal as the RND’s leader.
Siddiq Shehab, who was stripped from his DNR membership by Ouyahia after voicing opposition to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, accused the PM of “betraying his comrades."
“We do not want this person at the head of the party. He proved his allegiance to foreign powers. He is also a client who serves a certain agenda for looting and robbery ... For the past 20 years, Ouyahia has exploited the party for personal purposes and for the application of a foreign agenda. Today we have one demand: his departure because he is an outcast to the Algerian people,” Shehab said.
RND parliamentarians and elected officials have taken part in a demonstration calling for Ouyahia’s removal and the appointing of a new leadership.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the former president of Algeria, had stepped down after 20 years in power two weeks ago, bowing to pressure from the army and weeks of demonstrations mainly by young people seeking change in the country.
But the protests, which began on February 22, have continued as many want the removal of Bouteflika’s regime stalwarts who governed Algeria since independence from France in 1962 and the prosecution of people they see as corrupt.
Ouyahia had served several times as prime minister under Bouteflika and is also head of the RND party, the coalition partner of Bouteflika's ruling National Liberation Front (FNL) party.
