Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika’s bid to run for reelection sparked a new wave of protests on Monday with thousands taking to the street to demand that he withdraw his candidacy.
Hundreds staged small demonstrations in several cities outside the capital, footage posted online showed, continuing almost two weeks of marches and rallies against the 82-year-old leader’s intent to seek a fifth term.
The rallies took place despite Bouteflika’s offer to run in elections the April 19 elections but not to serve a full term if re-elected.
The president pledged that if he won he would organize a national conference to discuss reforms and then call early elections in which he would not run. Ennahar TV said the fresh vote would be held within a year.
A college student told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We cannot believe that the president has submitted his candidacy for the very simple reason that he is bedridden in a hospital in Switzerland. He has been there for several days.”
“What took place at the constitutional council was a farce,” he said in reference to Bouteflika’s campaign manager submitting the president’s nomination on Sunday. The law obligates a candidate to appear at the council to hand in a nomination.
The president, rarely seen in public since a stroke in 2013, appeared in a wheelchair in Algiers in April last year but is now reported to be in a Swiss hospital.
A mechanic told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I will never believe that the president submitted his nomination. His entourage did because it wants to preserve its interests. The president is lying in a coma in Geneva. I overheard them say that.”
A former Algerian government minister resigned as a lawmaker and member of the ruling FLN party on Monday, a rare sign of discontent within an elite coming under unprecedented pressure.
Sidi Ferroukhi, who has served as agriculture minister, did not address Bouteflika in a Facebook statement, saying only that Algeria was going through exceptional circumstances and change.
A group of opposition leaders and political activists called for a postponement of the election.
The group included the Islamist Justice and Development Front and former Prime Minister Ali Benflis.
It cited article 102 of the constitution that obligates the president’s resignation if he cannot fulfill his duties for health reasons. It also rejected Bouteflika’s offer, saying it was a ploy to impede the popular protests and prolong the regime’s tenure.
