BREAKING: Algerian president withdraws bid for re-election

Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has said he will not seek re-election and announced the delay of the country’s presidential polls amid mass protests against his re-election bid.

In a message carried by Aljazeera on Monday, the 82-year-old also said the elections would follow a national conference on political and constitutional reform to be carried out by the end of 2019.

The ailing leader, who has been confined to a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2013, said a government reshuffle would also take place soon.

According to APS, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia had already resigned.

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Algeria’s president says he is creating a new government and a special body to draft a new constitution to respond to mass protests. 

He also announced that the presidential election scheduled for April 18 will be delayed.

Bouteflika pledged not to run for president again, noting his health and age. Bouteflika is 82 and has barely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, fueling frustration with his secretive leadership style

He says he plans to appoint a new government and a separate “national conference” tasked with rescheduling the election and drafting a new constitution.

He made the announcements in a letter to the nation released by state news agency APS.

Bouteflika, who is 82, has barely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke. He has faced unprecedented protests in recent weeks demanding that he abandon plans to seek another term.

Algerian workers are holding scattered walkouts and students are gathering for protests as their tense nation waits to see whether ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika offers any concessions in the face of unprecedented protests.

Algerian media and protest leaders expect Monday to be a decisive day for the gas-rich North African country after Bouteflika returned home Sunday from two weeks in a Swiss hospital.

His absence saw mounting, massive demonstrations demanding that he withdraw his candidacy for a fifth term in next month’s election.

Security is high Monday in Algiers, where some businesses are shuttered by strikes and high school and university students are planning protest-related activity.

Algerians have hardly seen Bouteflika since he suffered a stroke in 2013, and anger has mounted at the country’s secretive power structure.