Date: Jan 18, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Algeria calls presidential election for April 18 ALGIERS: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued a decree Friday calling a much anticipated presidential election for April 18, the presidency said in a statement. Bouteflika "issued a presidential decree calling voters to the polls for a presidential election that will take place on Thursday, April 18," a statement from his office said. It did not say whether Bouteflika would seek a fifth term in office. Bouteflika, 81, has been in office since 1999 and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 which bound him to a wheelchair.