The ruling party in Algeria, namely the National Liberation Front (FLN), on Saturday pleaded incumbent president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run for a fifth term, ahead of election of April 2019, local media reported.
“FLN wants the president to continue his mission he started in 1999, as head of the state,” said FLN Secretary General Djamel Ould Abbes, during a meeting with officials of his party in Algiers on Saturday.
Yet, Ould Abbes noted Bouteflika will be notified of the FLN request, adding that “the last word returns to Abdelaziz Bouteflika.”
For his part, Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel, a member of the FLN Central Committee, endorsed the request of Ould Abbes, adding that “under the leadership of Bouteflika, Algeria regained peace and security, and has become a reference in the field of de-radicalization, and resolution of international conflicts.”
As for the calls of the opposition for the retirement of ailing Bouteflika, Messahel said: “The opposition can say what it wants, but we have the right to defend the achievements of Bouteflika, including democracy which remains a strategic choice for Algeria.”
President Bouteflika has been suffering health problems after he was hit by a stroke in 2013, as he makes rare public appearances.
The Constitution allows the current president to run for a new term of five years.
