Algeria: Opposition parties call for delay in elections

By Abdul Razak bin Abdullah

ALGIERS (AA) - A day after Abdelaziz Bouteflika officially submitted his nomination in the Algerian presidential polls, the opposition parties called for the postponement of the April 18 elections.

On Monday evening, the opposition parties demanded the activation of Article 102, which would provide for the vacancy of the presidency and the postponement of elections.

Twenty candidates have filed their papers to run for the upcoming polls.

Several opposition figures have already withdrawn from the election to protest 82-year-old Bouteflika’s bid to secure a fifth term.

They include Louisa Hanoune, secretary-general of Algeria’s Labor Party; Ali Benflis, a former prime minister; and Abderrazak Makri, head of Algeria’s Movement for Society for Peace.

Last month, Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front nominated Bouteflika -- who has ruled Algeria since 1999 -- to run for a fifth term.

Opposition figures have repeatedly urged the aging wheelchair-bound president, who in 2013 was treated for a blood clot in the brain, to refrain from contesting the election.

According to the constitution, the parliament speaker, in case of the sickness or death of the president, shall assume the functions of the latter for a maximum period of 90 days, during which presidential elections shall be held.

In such case, the interim president in will not be eligible to run for presidential polls.