Buteflika is looking for another mandate | Algeria

The candidacy of Algerian President Abdelaziz Buteflika (photo) for a fifth term in the presidential elections of April 18th was presented yesterday to the Constitutional Council, which triggered new night demonstrations. Buteflika's candidacy, hospitalized for a week in Switzerland and whose return has not yet been announced, was presented by his new campaign manager, Abdelghani Zalene. The president surprised everyone by dismissing his campaign director, Abdelmalek Sellal, 70, an ally for many years. Mr. Buteflika hired yesterday, when he was elected on April 18, not to complete his term and to withdraw after an early presidential election, the date of which will be fixed after a "national conference", in a letter sent to national television. The possibility of Buteflika's candidacy for a fifth term sparked an unprecedented wave of protests in two decades. Last night, several hundred young people again demonstrated in the streets of Algiers to express their opposition to this new postulation. Another similar demonstration was reported in Bejala, where protesters gathered in front of the government delegation chanted "Do you want war? We are there!" Since the government announced its intention to run for a fifth term, Algeria has been rocked by demonstrations gathering tens of thousands of people on the streets of a country that has banned for many years this type of Demonstrations Yesterday, Algerians also demonstrated in France, especially in major cities such as Paris and Marseille. Retired General Ali Ghediri, who appeared on the Algerian political scene in 2018 with the promise of a "change", was presented yesterday to the Constitutional Council to finalize his candidacy. Although at one point Ghediri was perceived as a stone in Buteflika's shoe, he kept his profile low in recent weeks.