Bouteflika to run for third term
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/7886375.stm Version 0 of 1. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has said he will seek a third term in elections in April. "I announce my candidature as an independent," Mr Bouteflika told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital Algiers. Mr Bouteflika is widely tipped to win the elections. Last November, the parliament passed a constitutional amendment abolishing a two-term limit for the president. The move was criticised by the opposition. Opposition parties said the reform could destroy political pluralism. Mr Bouteflika, a veteran of Algerian politics, was first elected in 1999. He has overseen a return to relative peace, though there has been a series of suicide bombings over the last two years blamed on militants linked to al-Qaeda. |