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A planned visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika failed in 2017 due to his mediocre state of health. After several blows, he disappeared from the public. But the long-time president, in the spring of 2019, is elected for a fifth term.
Djamel Ould Abbes, secretary general of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), announced it Sunday in Parliament. "At the FLN, we have only one choice: the candidate for 2019 is Abdelaziz Bouteflika," said French broadcaster Radio France International.
As a military candidate, Bouteflika was elected in 1999 to head the state. He also survived the popular protests in the Arab world in 2011 and was re-elected in the spring of 2014 despite a poor state of health as a result of a constitutional amendment.
Meanwhile, he is sitting in a wheelchair and barely showing himself publicly. In the West, Bouteflika has earned a reputation for being a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism. The federal government considers Algeria as an important player in stability and security in the region. The largest country on the continent, on the border of Mali and Niger, is an important transit country for African refugees.
It has long been known that Algeria is not doing well with African migrants. Those who reach the Mediterranean coast and are taken back by the Algerian authorities bring people back to the desert. Despite the repression exerted by Germany, Algeria is a safe and German origin country. Hundreds of expulsions took place in 2018. Algeria is currently the largest customer of the German armaments industry.
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