Algeria parliament president Bouchareb resigns

Algerian parliament president Moad Bouchareb quit on Tuesday, Ennahar TV and a parliamentary source said, after prolonged demands for his removal by protesters who saw him as a pillar of the ruling elite.

Bouchareb bowed out three months after longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned under pressure from sustained protests seeking root-and-branch reform and an end to systemic corruption and cronyism.

Authorities have postponed a presidential election previously planned for July 4 because of a lack of candidates, with no new date set for the vote.

“Bouchareb has resigned as the boss of parliament, he will be replaced by a caretaker before a new one is named,” the parliamentary source said. The source said Terbech Abderazak, a member of parliament, would take over the job temporarily.

Protesters and the army drove Bouteflika to resign on April 2 after two decades in power, but public pressure has continued for the departure and prosecution of senior figures around him.

Bouchareb is a former head of the National Liberation Front (FLN) party, which has ruled Algeria since independence from France in 1962. Bouchareb was replaced as FLN leader in May.