ALGIERS (AA): Thousands of Algerians demonstrated in the capital, Algiers, on Tuesday despite President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to refrain from seeking a fifth term in office.
Late Monday, Bouteflika, 82, announced that presidential polls slated for April would be postponed to a later date, yet to be decided.
He also announced his decision to withdraw his candidacy from the election.
However, thousands of students staged protests in central Algiers, waving banners rejecting the aging leader’s decisions, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent in the area.
“NO for extending Bouteflika’s term,” demonstrators chanted as they marched in the capital.
Monday’s decisions followed several weeks of popular demonstrations against the president’s stated intention to run for a fifth term in office.
Last month, Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front nominated Bouteflika — who has ruled Algeria since 1999 — to run for a fifth term.
Opposition figures had consistently urged the aging president, who in 2013 underwent treatment for a blood clot in the brain, to refrain from contesting the elections.
