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Algerian students say 'No' to Bouteflika fifth term

Tuesday March 05 2019
Algeria

Algerian students demonstrate at Algiers' School of Medicine on March 3, 2019 against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term. President Bouteflika pledged not to serve a full term if re-elected at April polls after huge protests against his bid to extend his 20 years in power. PHOTO | AFP

By AFP

Thousands of Algerian students marched on Tuesday in protest at ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's determination to stand for re-election, brushing aside his pledge not to serve a full fifth term.

Following mass demonstrations, the veteran leader promised that if he wins the April poll he will organise a "national conference" to set a date for further elections which he would not contest.

But his pledge, made in a letter read out late Sunday on state television, has been angrily dismissed as an insult by Algerians weary of his two-decade-old rule.

President Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public.

People struggle

Rallies demanding the 82-year-old resign have rocked Algeria since February 22, with protesters mobilised by calls on social media, in a country where half the population is under 30 and many young people struggle to find jobs.

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On Tuesday thousands of university students from campuses across Algiers marched in the capital, many carrying their country's flag.

Mr Abderahman, a 21-year-old student, said President Bouteflika "wants an extra year" in power.

"We don't want him to stay even an extra second. He should leave now," he said.

Police deployed across the centre of the capital where protests have been banned since 2001.

Honked their horns

"Hey Bouteflika, there won't be a fifth term," the students chanted.

Onlookers applauded them and motorists honked their horns in a show of support.

And in a sign they will not back down from protests calling on the president to resign, the students chanted "bring on the army commandos and the BRI (police rapid response squad)."

Thousands of students also rallied in the centre of Algeria's second city Oran, an AFP reporter said.

Local journalists in the cities of Constantine and Annaba said thousands more students had also joined protests, while Algerian media reported demonstrations in other cities.

Medical tests

The European Commission stressed the importance of freedom of expression and rule of law, following days of protests which have seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets.

"The right to freedom of expression and assembly are written in the Algerian constitution," Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told journalists.

"We expect that these rights can be exercised in a peaceful way and guaranteed in respect for the rule of law," she added.

President Bouteflika formally submitted his candidacy for the April 18 poll just before a midnight deadline on Sunday.

It was handed in by his campaign manager Abdelghani Zaalane as the president has been in Switzerland since February 24 for what the presidency has described as "routine medical tests".

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