Algeria's President Bouteflika to seek fifth term

Algeria’s veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has defied protesters by confirming he will run again – but says he will not serve a full term.

In a letter he said if he won April’s vote he would oversee a national dialogue leading to fresh elections that he would not contest.

His decision to seek a fifth term in office sparked nationwide protests.

Mr Bouteflika, 82, has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

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Sunday saw new protests as a midnight deadline loomed for candidates to register. By nightfall young people were again marching in the capital Algiers despite the president’s offer.

Mr Bouteflika’s campaign manager submitted papers on behalf of the ailing president, who is undergoing medical treatment in Switzerland.

The electoral commission has said candidates need to submit them in person, but the Constitutional Council ruled that he did not have to be physically present.

The proposal came in the form of a letter to the Algerian people read out on state television.

Should he be re-elected. Mr Bouteflika said he would hold an “inclusive national conference” followed by a vote to determine the next president.

He said he would not run again and acknowledged the protests that have rocked Algeria.

Mr Bouteflika came to power in 1999 and is credited with putting an end to a civil war that is estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people.

Protests against food prices and unemployment broke out in 2011 during the Arab Spring but he responded by lifting a nearly two-decades old state of emergency, meeting a key demand of protesters.

After his stroke he won re-election in a poll denounced by the opposition and dissolved the country’s powerful spy agency, replacing it with a body loyal to him.

Critics say his ill health means that he is unable to perform his duties as president.

Despite the dissent, Mr Bouteflika is still widely tipped to win the election this year.

Algeria’s opposition is divided and Mr Bouteflika won the last presidential elections in 2014 despite doing no personal campaigning.