In a stunning turnaround, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will step down following weeks-long protests.
People celebrate on the streets of Algiers after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he will not run for a fifth term. By Sudarsan Raghavan Sudarsan Raghavan Cairo bureau chief covering North Africa and Yemen Email Bio Follow March 11 at 6:24 PM TUNIS — Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday said he would not seek a fifth term in office and delayed next month’s elections, a stunning turnaround that came after weeks of massive street protests in the North African nation.
Bouteflika, 82, became the fifth leader since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings to be forced out of office by public pressure, following autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. An Algerian man cheers Bouteflika’s announcement. The elections, scheduled for April 18, will be postponed until an interim leadership is established and can plan for a new vote, the news agency reported, citing the office of the presidency. No new date was announced. A new constitution will be drawn up and submitted for a public referendum, and political and economic reforms will be carried out, according to the office of the presidency.
Bouteflika, the longest-serving head of state in Algeria, has governed since 1999. He oversaw the end of Algeria’s decade-long civil war against Islamists in which as many as 200,000 people died. After Monday’s announcement, many on social media congratulated the Algerian people for their courage.
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