Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Algerian students say ‘No’ to Bouteflika’s fifth term

1151571
1151571
minus
plus

Algiers: Thousands of Algerian students marched on Tuesday in protest at ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s determination to stand for re-election, brushing aside his pledge not to serve a full fifth term. Following mass demonstrations, the veteran leader promised that if he wins the April poll he will organise a “national conference” to set a date for further elections which he would not contest.


But his pledge, made in a letter read out late on Sunday on state television, has been angrily dismissed as an insult by Algerians weary of his two-decade-old rule.


Rallies demanding the 82-year-old resign have rocked Algeria since February 22, with protesters mobilised by calls on social media, in a country where half the population is under 30 and many young people struggle to find jobs.


On Tuesday thousands of university students from campuses across Algiers marched in the capital, many carrying their country’s flag.


Police deployed across the centre of the capital where protests have been banned since 2001.


The TSA news website reported similar protests in Algeria’s second and third cities, Oran and Constantine, as well as in other towns and cities.


And in a sign they will not back down from protests calling on the president to resign, the students chanted “bring on the army commandos and the BRI (police rapid response squad).”


Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public.


He formally submitted his candidacy for the April 18 poll just before a midnight deadline on Sunday.


It was handed in by his campaign manager Abdelghani Zaalane as the president has been in Switzerland since February 24 for what the presidency has described as “routine medical tests”.


In Sunday’s message he said that his pledge not to serve a full term if re-elected “will ensure I am succeeded in undeniable conditions of serenity, freedom and transparency.” — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon