Algerian Islamic party rejects president’s concessions

By Abdul Razzaq bin Abdullah

ALGIERS (AA) – Algeria’s Movement of Society for Peace on Tuesday rejected President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s recent decision to postpone upcoming presidential elections and refrain from seeking a fifth term in office.

The movement, Algeria’s largest Islamic party, made the assertion in a statement released following a meeting of its executive committee.

“Measures announced by the president don’t meet the aspirations of the Algerian people, who have hit the streets in the millions to demand real change,” the statement read.

Bouteflika’s concessions, it added, were merely intended to “placate the Algerian street” without actually meeting the people’s demands.

On Monday, the 82-year-old Bouteflika announced that presidential polls slated for April would be postponed to a later date, yet to be decided.

He also announced his decision to withdraw his candidacy from the upcoming election.

Bouteflika’s announcement followed several weeks of popular demonstrations against his stated intention to run for a fifth term in office.

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

Opposition figures had consistently urged the aging leader, who in 2013 underwent treatment for a blood clot in the brain, to refrain from contesting the poll.