Hundreds of disgruntled municipal guards rally again in Algiers

Hundreds of municipal guards rallied once again in Martyrs Square in downtown Algiers to demand better living conditions, higher wages and other social benefits.

• The municipal guards hailing from different parts of Algeria rallied anew Monday morning in Martyrs Square, in the heart of the capital Algiers to voice their rejection of the pre-requisites set by the Interior Ministry for a fulfillment of some of their demands set forth at a previous protracted sit-in earlier this month.
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• A spokesman for the protesters told “Echorouk” that the disillusioned municipal guards had decided to relinquish their dealings with the Interior Ministry and to convey instead their concerns and grievances to the President of the Republic himself in the hope of seeing their long-standing file resolved once and for all.
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• He also indicated that a delegation made up of 8 representatives of the municipal guards was received on Monday by a high official at the Presidency of the Republic as part of efforts to find a lasting and acceptable solution to this pending issue.
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• The municipal guards who take part in the fresh demonstration, estimated at several hundred, again vowed to rally in Martyrs Square day and night until their demands are met.
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• The demonstrators held anti-government signboards, in addition to slogans that remind of their sacrifices in the field of countering terrorism.
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• Some protesters said that they notably reject any decision aiming at dissolving the municipal guards or integrating its elements in the National People’s Army or any other institution.
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• They claimed that they have several alternative proposals and castigated what they called the local authorities’ shilly-shally policy.
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• The Algerian government is currently considering the redeployment and reinsertion of municipal guards, Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said last week.
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• In a statement to the press on the sidelines of Senate spring session opening, Mr Ould Kablia underlined that the redeployment of municipal guards will be conducted by taking into account their competences and their abilities.
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•  “We have to support and rehabilitate this corps that was involved in safeguarding the nation and the Republic alongside the National People’s Army in the sustained fight against the heinous scourge of terrorism,” the minister said.