Algeria: Activists call for protests against Bouteflika 5th term

Social media activists have called for protests to be held later this week against Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to run for a fifth presidential term, despite his deteriorating health.

Mouwatana or the Citizens’ Democracy movement – which comprises a group of opposition political activists – has called for protests to be held on 24 February. The Algerian opposition is planning to meet on Wednesday to discuss one candidate who will face Bouteflika in the upcoming elections, which are scheduled for April.

Hundreds of Algerians gathered yesterday in the French capital Paris to reject Bouteflika’s candidacy for a fifth term. Last week it emerged that France had reluctantly agreed for Bouteflika to stand in the upcoming election in the absence of a better candidate, concluding that Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia was incapable of replacing Bouteflika given that he would not be able to achieve consensus within the Algerian army’s supreme command. French intelligence warned that Ouyahia’s presidential victory could provoke a military coup, as conditions for a peaceful transition of power “have not yet been achieved in Algeria”.

Algeria: Bouteflika, a ghost-candidate in a presidential race