Algiers — A key coalition ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called Wednesday for him to resign following mass protests and a demand from the army chief that the ailing leader be declared unfit to rule. In a statement signed by its leader, recently sacked prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia, the RND said on Wednesday that it “recommends the resignation of the president... with the aim of smoothing the period of transition.”

Ouyahia is a longtime supporter of Bouteflika and served as his prime minister three times since 2003 before being sacrificed on March 11 in a vain bid to calm the intensifying street protests.

The statement from the National Rally for Democracy (RND) came a day after the military — Algeria’s traditional kingmakers — said Bouteflika should be declared unfit for office. But the leaders of five weeks of mass protests fueled by anger over alleged corruption, nepotism and economic mismanagement said the plan still did not go far enough, risking a confrontation with the military.

“Protests will continue... Algerians’ demands include a change of the political system,” Mustapha Bouchachi, a lawyer and activist, told Reuters.

“The implementation of Article 102 (the part of the constitution that covers declaring a president unfit for office) means that the symbols of the system will oversee the transition period and organize presidential elections,” he said.

Protesters have repeatedly said they would reject any orchestrated succession in politics and want a transition which will lead to a government by consensus.

“We want a real democracy not a facade of a democracy,” said postal worker Zakaria Jaziri 26. — Agencies