Algeria to hold presidential election on April 18

Algeria is set to hold the presidential election on April 18, the North African country’s presidency announced.

It is unclear whether Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria’s frail 81-year-old president who has been in power since 1999, will stand for a fifth consecutive term.

Djamel Ould Abbes, the former chief of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN), was sacked in November, a month after he announced that Bouteflika would be the party’s candidate in the presidential poll.

“Bouteflika… is the candidate of the FLN for the presidential election,” Ould Abbes was quoted as saying following a meeting with legislators from the party last year.

“His candidacy has been demanded by all the FLN cadres and activists across the country,” he said.

Bouteflika, who has been confined to a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2013, last addressed the nation more than six years ago.

If he wins, he will be 87 by the time Algeria’s following elections are held.

More than 40 percent of Algeria’s 41 million population is under 25 and many of them know no leader other than Bouteflika.

In 2014, in light of the president’s failing health, the military thought it unwise for Bouteflika to run for a fourth term.

However, in a rare moment of indecision, the army is believed to have conceded to the ailing president’s demands, deeming it necessary to preserve stability in times of uncertainty.