Algeria’s head of constitutional council resigns

Belaiz succumbs to calls from protestors for him, other top figures in Bouteflika regime to resign.

ALGIERS - The head of Algeria's constitutional council stepped down Tuesday after weeks facing the ire of protesters, state television reported.

Tayeb Belaiz informed the council, which will play a key role in upcoming presidential elections, that "he presented his resignation... to the head of state".

Algerians have called for Belaiz and other top figures to quit in mass demonstrations which prompted the departure of veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika earlier this month.

Protesters have targeted the "3B" -- Belaiz, Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, and Abdelkader Bensalah who served as upper house speaker until being appointed interim president after Bouteflika's resignation.

Bensalah has defended his appointment under constitutional rules and has pledged a transparent vote, to be held on July 4.

The constitutional council is tasked with vetting election candidates, as well as ensuring the regularity of the polls.

Belaiz has served as a minister almost without interruption for 16 years and was appointed head of the constitutional council for the second time on February 2.

Later that month Algerians took to the streets to rally against Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in polls initially schedule for April.

The demonstrations swelled and spread nationwide, with protesters calling for a broad overhaul of the political system following the president's departure, including the ouster of the interim government.

'We will continue what we have started'

The reports of Belaiz' resignation came as thousands of Algerian students chanting "peaceful" rallied again in Algiers, defiantly facing police officers who barred them from reaching the focal point of weeks of protests.

"We will continue to march until a transitional (authority) led by clean politicians is set up," Mira Laifa, a medical student, said as she took part in the demonstration.

"We will continue what we have started," added fellow university student Linda.

Police were massively deployed around Algiers' iconic post office building, preventing the protesters from reaching what has become the emblematic point of rallies since anti-government demonstrations first erupted in February.

Demonstrators fear that the promised election will not be free and fair if they are held under the same judicial framework and institutions as those of the Bouteflika regime.

They are demanding that the regime's stalwarts be excluded from any political transition in the country

"Free Algeria," chanted the students on Tuesday.

"Algerian students want a transitional government," read a sign held up by protesters, as the crowds shouted "the people want them all to leave" in reference to the interim authorities.

Meanwhile students from a dozen universities said that their campuses were on strike and would remain closed until the political system is changed.