Political Lore
Julia Simpson
The Algerians are protesting over president’s plan to seek his fifth term, the demonstrations become more scaled, Al Jazeera reported.
The people on streets are protesting a third consecutive day against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term. The next presidential elections set on April 18, but Algerians are tired of Bouteflika’s ruling started in 1999. The status of his health is rather poor,
he is unable to speak or walk since 2013 when he had a stroke, he has rarely been seen in public since he was re-elected in 2014.
The 81-year-old Bouteflika announced his candidacy in the April vote through a letter published by state media on February 10. University students are set to protest and coordinated their activity very well, the observers say. In fact, Algerians showed their high level of political awareness once again today and broke the wall of fear.
Being started from the capital, the protests have spread very fast across the country: Bordj Bou Arreiridj, Annaba, Bejaia, Khenchela witnessed gatherings against Bouteflika and his government days before Friday. Police prevented hundreds of other people from joining the first group. There were reports of some arrests.
For Algeria, demonstrations are extremely rare events. The North African country with its history of violent internal conflict, did not see the escalation of an Arab Spring-inspired movement in 2011, despite uprisings in nearby Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.
Last Sunday, Abdelaziz Bouteflika postponed the inauguration of a new terminal at the Algiers international airport because he left for Geneva for «scheduled medical examinations».
