Africa

Algerian Dialogue Committee Kicks Off Work on Settling Nation's Political Deadlock

CAIRO (Sputnik) – Algeria’s National Committee for Dialogue and Mediation, searching for a way out of the country’s political crisis, said it would begin work in the near future. The committee was set up in July to ensure dialogue between all forces in society, which has been rocked by unrest for months.
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Earlier this week, the committee said it would include public figures, political parties, and activists from across the country to engage in dialogue to settle existing disagreements. The committee is expected to pave the way for holding a presidential election.

"The committee is beginning its work to reorganise the national dialogue in line with a schedule that will be released a bit later", a statement published on Thursday by the Algerian news agency APS read.

An acute political crisis and mass protests began in Algeria in February after then-President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced a bid to seek a fifth term in office.

The president subsequently resigned and Abdelkader Bensalah took over as interim president, but the protests continued with the demonstrators demanding that all politicians who received positions in the government step down and calling on the army to refrain from meddling in politics.

In early July, Bensalah announced a new initiative to settle the deadlock by engaging in a dialogue that would exclude members of both the government and the military.

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