ALGIERS – Algeria’s doctors have called for mass protests against Abdulaziz Bouteflika during the country’s independence day celebrations on Tuesday, ratcheting up pressure on the ailing president who is clinging to power.

In a statement released on Monday, the independent Collective of Algerian Medical Residents (CAMRA) urged medical students to take part and denounce the “ruling gangs”. Protesters are desperate for new leaders to replace Bouteflika and other veterans of the 1954-1962 war of independence against France.

The president, in power for 20 years, announced last week that he was reversing a decision to stand for a fifth term, but stopped short of standing down. He has postponed elections, effectively extending his current term, while promising to adopt a new constitution under a reform plan. The changes have brought no halt to demonstrations under way for more than three weeks against a ruling elite viewed as out of touch. Bouteflika, 82, has rarely been seen in public since a stroke in 2013, and protesters say he is unfit to rule.

In another concession, the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Sunday informed clerics that they are no longer required to submit texts of their sermons to authorities for approval. One of the most influential clerics in Algiers expressed his opposition to the government last week.(Reuters)…[+]