DUBAI (Reuters) – 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.
Reporting by Lamine Chikhi, Editing by Mark Heinrich, Editing by William Maclean
