africatodayonline.blogspot.com -
Algerian police arrest a demonstrator during a protest against Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika running in the April presidential elections in Algiers, March 1, 2014. (AFP/Farouk Batiche)
ALGIERS: Algerian police on Saturday dispersed a demonstration in the capital against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking a fourth term in office in April elections.
Bouteflika, who has been in power since 1999 and turns 77 on Sunday, announced a week ago he would seek re-election in an April 17 vote, after speculation his frail health would stop him from running.
A group opposed to a fourth term for Bouteflika had called for the demonstration online, and those taking part on Saturday included journalists and rights activists.
Protesters chanted "no to a fourth term" and "15 years is enough", an AFP journalist at the scene said.
There has been growing concern about Bouteflika serving another term, given the physical state of the president, who was hospitalised in Paris for three months last year after suffering a mini stroke.
He has chaired just two cabinet meetings since returning home in July, and has not spoken in public for nearly two years.
Former Algerian premier Mouloud Hamrouche on Thursday called for a "peaceful" change of the regime, which he said was no longer capable of running the country.
And Said Sadi, former head of the secular opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy Party, also spoke out against Bouteflika on Tuesday.
He urged Algerians to "delegitimise" the upcoming elections, urging a political transition similar to the one that took place last month in Tunisia.
- AFP/fl
