Iran Press/Africa: President of the Al-Mustabek Front, Abdelaziz Belaid, and the main rival of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, withdrew from the presidential elections scheduled for April 18, 2019.
The candidate for the candidacy confirmed this information in a press conference, held following a meeting of the governing body of his party, HuffPost reported.
Abdelaziz Belaïd joins Abderrezak Makri, Louisa Hanoune and Ali Benflis, who have decided not to participate in these elections.
Abdelaziz Belaid filed his candidacy for the presidential election on Saturday, with the Constitutional Council.
On the basis of his belief that the Algerian people want change and a smooth and flexible transition, the party coordination body that met on Saturday morning, following the recent popular movement, decided to participate in the next presidential election, Belaid said.
Today, he called the elections 'masquerade'.
Protests sweeping across Algeria for the past few weeks have called for wholesale regime change.
Last year, some opposition demanded Bouteflika's resignation, but faced fierce opposition from powerful parties.105/201
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