Algeria's ruling coalition party on Wednesday called for the resignation of ailing, 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose long rule has prompted weeks of mass street protests in the country.

"In order to avoid any institutional vacuum, the president must urgently appoint a new government," he said.

Ouyahia expressed "gratitude" to Bouteflika for "all he given Algeria."

The move came one day after Algeria's powerful army chief called for starting the constitutional process to have Bouteflika declared unfit for office, possibly paving the way for the president's ouster after 20 years in power.

Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah said Tuesday "the only guarantee for political stability" is to empower the Constitutional Council to determine if the president is too ill to do his job, and to ask lawmakers to declare him unfit.

The country's presidential coalition is formed by an alliance of the RND with the FLN party.

Bouteflika has barely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke.

Earlier this month, he cancelled a presidential election scheduled for April 18 and overhauled the government. He said he planned to establish a national conference to draft a new constitution and to set a new date for the election.

Critics said the postponement was unconstitutional and alleged it amounted to a desperate bid to cling to power until the president's entourage found its own replacement.

Bouteflika is credited with bringing peace to his nation after the bloody civil war of the 1990s.

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