AFP, ALGIERSAlgerian demonstrators on Friday rejected a call for dialogue by the country’s new president, insisting on a month-long protest movement’s demands for sweeping reforms in the North African country. Huge crowds flooded the streets of Algiers on the 44th consecutive Friday of anti-government protests, a day after Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, an establishment insider, was sworn in following his victory in last week’s presidential election. “I don’t accept this president ... and I am against the dialogue that the ruling establishment is offering,” said Amar Alileche, a 66-year-old pensioner protesting against Tebboune. “Negotiations must lead to the departure of the old regime.”Tebboune, 74, succeeds former Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned in April in the face of huge demonstrations after two decades in office. A new constitution would reduce the authority of the president and “guarantee the separation and balance of powers,” he said.
