Algeria swore in Abdelmadjid Tebboune as president on Thursday as the protest movement debates its response to his offer of dialogue to end a months-long political crisis.
Tebboune, a former prime minister who casts himself as a reformer, was elected last week in a vote the opposition regarded as a charade intended to keep the ruling elite in power, Reuters said.
The army saw Thursday’s election as the best way to end 10 months of weekly mass protests that helped oust Tebboune’s predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April.
Since the election, the weekly Friday and Tuesday protests have gone ahead as usual, though there were reports of police arresting many demonstrators in the western city of Oran.