Hundreds of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets to demand an end to the 20-year presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Just five weeks remain before planned presidential elections on 18 April, at which the 82-year-old Bouteflika is running for a controversial fifth term. There have been protests against the regime in the past, but none like this one.
Bouteflika, in Geneva for what officials describe as a “routine health check,” was unable to present his own campaign papers for the coming election, a reminder of 2014 when he left it to right hand man Abdelmalek Sellal to declare his candidacy. For Algerian citizens, the ailing health of the man who has been the country’s figurehead for the past two decades is at the center of protests demanding the withdrawal of his candidacy. (CONTINUED - 1164 WORDS)
