Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of central Algiers in the largest rallies yet against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term in office. Algerians fed up with unemployment, corruption and an elderly elite seen as out of touch with the young have taken to the streets for the past two weeks to protest against the 82-year-old’s plans to remain in office. Wrapped in Algerian flags, singing and tossing flowers, festive crowds overflowed into all the main boulevards and other streets in the city on the Mediterranean. The protesters converged after prayers while onlookers threw flowers and confetti from flag-draped balconies. Security forces watched from the sidelines. There was no official count of the crowd size, but a police chief estimated about 500,000 when asked. “Tear gas is becoming more frequent,” said a witness, as teenagers on rooftops monitored police movements on the streets. Underscoring frustrations with the entire Algerian political system, protesters put signs on the heads of donkeys with the names of ruling party figures and a member of the opposition. Several lawmakers of the ruling FLN party have resigned to join the mass anti-government protests, the private Ashourouq TV station said on Friday. No details were immediately available. Train and metro services in Algiers were suspended without explanation before Algerians gathered in the capital and several other cities including Constantine, Annaba, Skikda, Bouira and Tizi Ouzou to press Bouteflika to step down. Bouteflika’s eligibility, and that of 20 other candidates, is to be decided next week by the Constitutional Council. Several potential heavyweights have withdrawn from the race. The ailing Bouteflika is in hospital in Geneva and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. While the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, police used tear gas to block the road to the presidential palace and also used it in several other areas of the capital. In its latest addition, quoted by the state news agency, the army magazine described the relationship between the military and Algerians in positive terms. “Both belong to one country, no alternative to it,” said Djeich magazine. Both the people and the army had the same vision and destiny, it said. It did not mention the unrest but the army chief of staff has said the military would not tolerate any threats to the stability of the country. Unusually, one of the most popular imams, or prayer leaders, in Algiers did not pray for the president as he does every Friday, and only wished the best for Algeria and its people. On Thursday, Bouteflika issued his first warning to protesters, saying the unrest, now entering its third week, could create chaos in North African country, an oil and gas producer. The demonstrations, the largest since 1991 when the army canceled elections Islamists were poised to win, pose the most substantial threat ever faced by the president, who is standing for re-election on April 18. His candidacy has angered many Algerians tired of the dominance of elderly veterans of the 1954-1962 war of independence against France. Bouteflika has offered to limit his term after the election — and even to change the “system” that runs the country — but people from different classes of society, including students and young families, are still on the street.