ANSD : Bouteflika to resign before mandate ends on April 28

THU 25 - 4 - 2024

Date: Apr 2, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Folder: Elections

Bouteflika to resign before mandate ends on April 28

_{Agence France Presse}
ALGIERS: Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign before his mandate expires on April 28, his office said Monday, after a succession of loyalists deserted the ailing leader in recent days.

Bouteflika would take "steps to ensure state institutions continue to function during the transition period", the presidency said in a brief statement carried by the official APS news agency.

The 82-year-old would resign "before April 28, 2019," after "important decisions" were taken, it added, without specifying when these moves would occur.

Bouteflika has come under mounting pressure to step down since his decision to seek a fifth term despite rarely being seen in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.

The Algerian leader said last month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered protesters who saw it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power.

Faced with massive street protests across the North African country, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days.

On Tuesday armed forces chief of staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who was appointed by Bouteflika in 2004, said the president should either resign or be declared medically unfit to govern by parliament using its constitutional powers.

And Wednesday, key coalition ally the National Rally for Democracy (RND) headed by recently sacked prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia called for Bouteflika's resignation "with the aim of smoothing the period of transition."

Under the constitution, once his resignation is tendered, the speaker of Algeria's upper house of parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, would act as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organized.

Bouteflika names new caretaker government
_{01 April 2019}
_Reuters
ALGIERS/TUNIS: Protest-hit Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika named a new caretaker government Sunday, keeping Army Chief of Staff Ahmad Gaid Salah in his post as deputy defense minister even after he called for Bouteflika to be declared unfit for office. Announcing the new Cabinet, state television said Bouteflika had appointed central bank Gov. Mohammad Loukal as finance minister and Mohammad Arkab as energy minister.

He appointed Sabri Boukadoum as foreign minister to replace Ramtane Lamamra, who had taken up the post last month in another reshuffle. Bouteflika retained his title as defense minister.

Earlier Sunday, the U.N. secretary-general said he welcomed efforts toward a peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria.

Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets of Algiers for more than a month, saying they have had enough of the allegations of corruption, nepotism and economic mismanagement that have tarnished Bouteflika’s 20-year rule.

Gaid Salah Saturday summoned top military brass for an emergency meeting, where he renewed a call for the Constitutional Council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old Bouteflika was fit to rule, opening up the possibility of a managed exit.

But his attempt to break the political impasse has failed to placate demonstrators, who reject military intervention in civilian matters and want to dismantle the entire ruling elite, which includes veterans of the war of independence against France, army officers, the ruling party and business tycoons.

Several close allies, including some members of the ruling FLN and union leaders, have abandoned Bouteflika, who has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

All private Algerian aircraft are prohibited from departing from and landing in Algeria, a source close to the civil aviation authority and the private Ennahar TV station said. It was not clear why the ban had been imposed.

Leading Algerian businessman Ali Haddad, who was part of Bouteflika’s inner circle, was arrested at the Tunisian border early Sunday, a close associate said. Several Algerian TV stations broadcast news on the detention of Haddad, a media magnate who helped fund Bouteflika’s election campaigns over the years.

Bouteflika announced on March 11 he was dropping plans for a fifth term but stopped short of stepping down immediately and said he would wait for a national conference on political change. That only further enraged protesters.

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