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Algeria denies report Bouteflika intends to run for fifth term

November 20, 2017 at 4:55 pm

Former Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika [National Algerian Centre/Facebook]

The Algerian presidency yesterday denied reports that ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika intends to run for a fifth term in 2019.

“Some websites and newspapers reported over the past two days about an alleged meeting between President Bouteflika and lawyer Farouq Qusantini to discuss current and future issues,” state television reported a statement by the presidency as saying.

“The Presidency of the Republic categorically refutes the reports of the meeting, as well as its content and considers it a mere fabrication.”

Qusantini, the former president of the presidential Human Rights Commission, claimed during a TV interview that Bouteflika had met with him and told him that he intends to run for a fifth term.

Read: Former Algerian Prime Minister says Bouteflika must step down

Algeria ruling National Liberation Front party has reiterated on several occasions that its candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for the first half of 2019 is the current president, unless he refuses.

Bouteflika, 81, suffered a stroke in April 2013 which left him unable to move or even speak. In April 2014, the Algerian president won a fourth term to rule the country for another five years.