Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia hinted on Thursday that President Abdulaziz Bouteflika may soon announce his candidacy for a fifth term in office.
“We are beginning to see the light of the candle,” he said in what was understood to be a hint that the president would seek reelection during the upcoming presidential elections in April.
For some politicians, “the future means change,” he said in reference to new figures running in the polls.
“I say that the future is continuity,” he added in reference to Bouteflika remaining in his position.
Bouteflika’s potential run for reelection has stirred controversy in Algeria with some officials advocating his candidacy and others, notably a number of retired military officers, opposing it.
Speaking before a meeting of his Democratic National Rally, Ouyahia defended Bouteflika’s “accomplishments” during his fourth term in office.
He also defended his 20 years in power, saying: “We have avoided a return to the atmosphere of the 1980s and averted resorting to the International Monetary Fund. All this is credited to his years in office and the decisions he has taken.”
He made his remarks in reference to Algeria’s early settlement of its foreign debts in 2005, in what economic experts say is the only positive economic decision taken by the president.
They instead have pointed to his economic failures, most significantly his inability to wean Algeria off its dependence on oil prices.
