Algeria's largest Islamic party withdraws from polls

ALGIERS (AA) – The Movement of Society for Peace, Algeria’s largest Islamic party, has withdrawn from next month's presidential election.

A total of 145 members of the movement's Shura Council have voted in favor of a decision to pull out from the race while 97 voted against, local media said.

Last month, the movement nominated its leader Abderrazak Makri to run in the polls, slated for April 18.

The decision came less than 24 hours before the closing date for accepting candidates to run in the polls.

Supporters of the withdrawal decision argue that the move was taken "in tandem with the desire of the people, who have gone out in their millions against the nomination of incumbent President Abdelazizi Bouteflika".

Last month, Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front nominated the 81-year-old Bouteflika -- who has ruled Algeria since 1999 -- to run for a fifth term in office.

Opposition leaders, for their part, have repeatedly urged the aging president, who in 2013 was treated for a blood clot in the brain, to refrain from contesting the election.