Kingmaker once more, Algeria's army confronts demand for real change

For the past six weeks, Algerians have marched to unseat not only President Abdelaziz Bouteflika but also the whole ruling elite -- veterans of an independence war against France, plus their allies in the army, business, legislature and unions. Some Algerians wonder whether the military, whose expertise lies in producing political continuity rather than change, is the institution to manage the radical political and economic overhaul many Algerians are calling for. The move, placing a large question mark over Bouteflika's own plan to stay on temporarily to oversee his own succession, sent a shockwave through the political establishment.