next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

Algerians taking to the streets for their sixth straight Friday of protests aren't just angry at their ailing president — they want to bring down the entire political system.

Small crowds started filling the boulevards of Algiers on Friday morning, and their numbers are expected to swell after midday Muslim prayers.

The Algerian army chief called earlier this week for a constitutional process to declare President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office. Other politicians and parties backed the idea as a solution to the gas-rich country's political crisis.

But protesters see the proposal as a way for the secretive political elite to keep their grip on power and name a hand-picked successor to Bouteflika, who has been largely out of the public eye since a 2013 stroke.

Anger at the constitutional process issue is central to Friday's protest.