UPDATE 5-Defiant judges, clerics pile pressure on Algeria's Bouteflika

More than 1,000 judges said they would refuse to oversee Algeria's election if President Abdelaziz Bouteflika contests it, and clerics defied any state role in their work, in a double rebuff to an ailing leader fighting for his political survival.

Bouteflika, who returned to Algeria on Sunday after medical treatment in Switzerland, has watched one long-time ally after another join mass demonstrations calling on him to step down. Now in their third week, the protests have seen Algerians desperate for jobs and angry about unemployment and corruption demonstrate in towns across the vast North African country against Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office.

The marches have shattered years of political inertia and unsettled Algeria's opaque but powerful security establishment. In a statement, the judges added their voice to the protests by announcing the formation of a new association "to restore the gift of justice".

"We announce our intention to abstain from ... supervising the election process against the will of the people, which is the only source of power," the judges said in a statement. The statement drew a sharp retort from Justice Minister Tayeb Louh, a member of Bouteflika's inner circle, who said judges should remain neutral.

"The independence and integrity of the judge must be consistent whatever the reasons," Ennahar TV quoted him as saying. In another setback for the president, who plans to stand in elections in April, clerics told the minister of religious affairs to stop pressuring them to issue pro-government sermons.

"Leave us to do our job, do not interfere," cleric Imam Djamel Ghoul, leader of an independent group of clerics, said in remarks to reporters. The 82-year-old Bouteflika faces the toughest fight of his 20-year-old rule. He has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, and his opponents say there is no evidence he is in a fit state to run the country. The authorities say he is in control despite his rare appearances.

The secretive military-based establishment known to Algerians as "le pouvoir" (the powers-that-be) appears to have stood aside while the demonstrations have taken place. Security forces have been mostly restrained. "Bouteflika is back, we delivered a message, we need a response, and we need a response now," pharmacist Mouloud Mohamed, 29, told Reuters.

In Algiers, dozens of unionists staged a protest rally outside the headquarters of the main union, UGTA, calling on its leader Abdelmadjid Sidi Said, a Bouteflika ally, to resign. UGTA later said it endorsed change through "wisdom and dialogue". NO CLEAR REPLACEMENT

In the clearest indication yet that the army is seeking to put some distance between itself and Bouteflika, the chief of staff said the military and the people had a united vision of the future, state TV reported. Lieutenant General Gaed Salah did not mention the unrest. His ruling FLN party urged all sides to work together to end the crisis and promote national reconciliation, Ennahar TV said. But some of its members have quit and joined ranks with demonstrators.

Algeria has been governed for decades by veterans of its 1954-1962 war of independence from France. Even if Bouteflika is forced from office, there is no clear replacement, raising the likelihood that the ruling elite will maintain its grip. Political sources say that if he caves in to the demonstrators' demands, several parties including the military, war veterans and members of the opposition would need to build consensus on a way forward to secure an orderly transition.

The process could also include prominent protesters. Mustapha Bouchachi is emerging as one of the best known of several lawyers and human rights activists opposed to Bouteflika who have gained a following on social media. "I am an Algerian citizen, I urge the respected Bouchachi to run in the 2019 election and I am ready to follow him in accordance to my principles and interests of Algeria," said Ahmed Azedine, one of his supporters.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Bouchachi said: "The system will not be able to organise a transparent election." For years, rumours have swirled about potential successors, but no one credible has emerged who has the backing of the army and the elite and is younger than 70.

"The end of the reign of the outgoing president is over. It is just a matter of time," said Louisa Ait Idriss, a university professor and prominent political analyst. "The challenge is to end Bouteflika without having another Bouteflika." The protests come four years after Bouteflika consolidated his position by dismissing military intelligence chief Mohamed Mediene, a rival once seen as Algeria's "Kingmaker", a move many expected would allow the president to step aside for an ally.

Bouteflika's dismissal of the general was the culmination of a struggle to impose his authority on military intelligence, a leading player in the civil war of the 1990s, and make the presidency the true centre of national power. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi, Additional reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunis, Writing by Michael Georgy Editing by William Maclean and Peter Graff)

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