ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian interim president Abdelkader Bensalah has set up a six-member panel to oversee a national dialogue and hold a presidential election aimed at ending months of political crisis, the presidency said on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Algerians protest in Algiers against the appointment of interim president Abdelkader Bensalah and demand radical changes to the political system, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down on April 2 after 20 years in power, under pressure from mass protests demanding the removal of the ruling elite and the prosecution of people suspected of corruption.

Authorities has canceled a presidential election previously planned for July 4, citing a lack of candidates. No new date has been set.

The panel, led by former parliament speaker Karim Younes, also includes two experts in law, an economic expert and two politicians.

“The dialogue will cover all aspects related to the organization of this election, its necessary conditions ... and the date of the election,” the statement quoted Bensalah as telling the panel at a meeting on Thursday.

“The dialogue must be inclusive of the whole political class, national figures and civil society.”

The army is now the main player in Algerian politics, and its chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, has repeatedly urged the opposition to cooperate in the holding of an election as soon as possible.

The panel will immediately start consultations with people willing to take part in the dialogue, the statement said.

“National dialogue remains the only way that can guarantee a peaceful outcome in line with what Algerians are expecting,” Younes said. “We are aware of the national impasse in which we live.”

In a bid to appease protesters, the judiciary has started corruption investigations involving several former senior officials.

Many prominent businessmen and ex-officials, including former prime ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, have been placed in custody on charges including “dissipation of public funds”.

Protesters are now demanding the departure of Bensalah, a former head of the upper house of parliament, and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, who are regarded by demonstrators as part of the old guard that has governed the North African country since independence from France in 1962. </s> Algeria’s army chief called on Tuesday for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit to govern, following weeks of mass protests urging on the ailing leader to step down.

General Ahmed Gaid Salah said in a televised speech the “way out of crisis ... is in Article 102” of the constitution, under which the president could be declared unable to perform his duties due to serious illness.

Based on Article 52 of the Algerian constitution, the chairman of the parliament's upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days.

Thousands of people rallied in Algiers on Tuesday calling on Bouteflika to quit, keeping up the pressure in weeks of protests that threaten to topple him and the elderly elite that has helped keep him in power for 20 years.

 

 Bouteflika, among the veterans of the 1954-62 war of independence against France who continue to dominate Algeria, has bowed to protesters by reversing a decision to seek another term and putting off elections that had been set for April. </s> Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign before his mandate expires on April 28, his office said on Monday, after a succession of loyalists deserted the ailing leader in recent days.

Bouteflika would take "steps to ensure state institutions continue to function during the transition period", the presidency said in a brief statement carried by the official APS news agency.

The 82-year-old would resign "before April 28, 2019", after "important decisions" were taken, it added, without specifying when these moves would occur.

Bouteflika has come under mounting pressure to step down since his decision to seek a fifth term despite rarely being seen in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.

The Algerian leader said last month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered protesters who saw it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power.

Faced with massive street protests across the North African country, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days.

On Tuesday armed forces chief of staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who was appointed by Bouteflika in 2004, said the president should either resign or be declared medically unfit to govern by parliament using its constitutional powers.

And on Wednesday, key coalition ally the National Rally for Democracy (RND) headed by recently sacked prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia called for Bouteflika's resignation "with the aim of smoothing the period of transition".

Under the constitution, once his resignation is tendered, the speaker of Algeria's upper house of parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, would act as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organised.
Algerian interim president Abdelkader Bensalah appoints a six-member panel to set a presidential election date. The previous date of July 4 was cancelled due to lack of candidates amid mass protests.