The Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 81 years of age, will be the candidate of the national liberation Front (FLN), its political party, at the presidential election scheduled for April 2019, said Sunday evening the boss of the FLN, Djamel Ould Abbes, quoted by the State news agency APS.
Pressed for six months by his camp to run for a 5th term of office, the head of the State, reduced by the after-effects of a cerebral vascular accident (STROKE), of which he was the victim in 2013, is not always expressed on this subject, not more than that of his entourage.
“President Bouteflika, who is also president of the party, is the candidate of the FLN’s presidential elections in 2019”, said Mr. Ould Abbes, secretary general of the FLN, during a ceremony in honour of the new leader of the parliamentary group of the party, Mohamed Bouabdallah.
“This nomination is a claim to all the executives and militants of the FLN on the entire national territory,” he added, according to the APS.
The central committee (governing body) of the FLN will meet soon to formalize the nomination, declared in AFP the chief of staff of Mr. Ould Abbes, Nadir Boulegroune.
Head of State since 1999 and holder of the record for longevity at the head of Algeria, Mr. Bouteflika makes rare appearances, on a wheelchair, and cannot speak in public since his STROKE. His health is the subject of speculation recurrent.
The uncertainty around a new candidacy of the head of the State has monopolized these past few months the political debate in Algeria, but seems to be in the immediate arouse less opposition displayed that in 2014, especially within the inner circle of political and military.
In April 2014, Mr. Bouteflika was re-elected for a 4th term, a year almost to the day after the STROKE for which he had been hospitalized for three months in Paris.
At the time, he had put an end to the endless speculations and debates –particularly within the powerful military establishment– around his candidacy two months before the election and ten days before the close of filing folders.
During several weeks at that time, the secretary general of the FLN, Amar Saïdani, had repeated that Mr Bouteflika would be a candidate.
On 7 April, Mr. Ould Abbes, be deemed to be a close long-time head of State, was the first publicly expressed the “wish” and “desire of the activists to see Bouteflika to continue his work,” after 2019.
He had followed the main ally of the FLN, the national Rally for democratic union (RND) of Prime minister Ahmed Ouhayia, the islamists of the Gathering of the Hope of Algeria (TAJ), other members of the presidential majority, the central union UGTA, the former single trade union, or the Forum of heads of enterprises (FCE), the main employers ‘ organisation.
In front, the opponents of a new term of office of Mr. Bouteflika to remain in the immediate little more audible and seem to be resigned to what seems inevitable.
Many observers, algerian and foreign, say they are also confident that Mr Bouteflika will be a candidate again in 2019.
In which case, the victory should not escape to the outgoing president, seen by many Algerians as the architect of the national reconciliation after the civil war (1992-2002) and was re-elected handily in 2014 with 81.5% of the vote in the first round.
