Shortly before the deadline for the nominations for the Algerian presidential election, many young people once again took to the streets against the leadership of the country. In the capital Algiers gathered in the center around a hundred students for a demonstration, as journalists told a news agency.
Their protest is directed not only against a fifth term of the senator Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but now against the leadership of the country as a whole. The prospect of another term in office of Head of State Bouteflika has been causing protests in Algeria for over a week. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have been on the streets since Friday, riots, police use tear gas, and injured dozens of people.
„Bouteflika, get away!“
The students gathered today near the university in the center of Algiers. They chanted, „Bouteflika, get out!“ The police cordoned off the demonstration, AFP journalists reported. Similar protests were reported by students and media from other university cities in the country.
The 82-year-old Bouteflika has been at the head of the North African nation for almost 20 years and wants to run again in the election on 18 April, although he has largely withdrawn from the public since a stroke six years ago and sits in a wheelchair. Critics consider the frail head of state, who is currently treated medically in Switzerland, therefore a puppet of his environment.
