Algeria: Municipal Guards Take To Streets In 39 Provinces

Thousands of municipal guards took to the streets in 39 provinces of Algeria in support for socio-professional claims which have so far been put into limbo by the Ministry of the Interior and Local Assemblies.

A spokesman for the disgruntled municipal guards, Hakim Chaib, told Echorouk that the massive street protests were linked to the Interior Ministry’s decision to cut off dialogue with the representatives of the protesters and turn a deaf ear to their bona-fide socio-professional claims adding that the municipal guards’ standing claims were not at all politically – motivated.

The spokesman added that in case of an absence of positive feedback from the relevant authorities, the municipal guards were determined to pour into the capital Algiers for massive street protests in the coming days.

He also underlined that the long-neglected municipal guards were intent on staging street rallies for what he called “dignity’s retrieval” adding that the latter had been stripped of their fundamental rights in blatant violation of the relevant laws and regulations, as he put it.