Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is preparing to announce his resignation in accordance with article 102 of the constitution.

Iran Press/Africa: Under the article, a constitutional council can declare Bouteflika unfit for office or he can resign himself.

Bouteflika, who has faced more than a month of mass protests, might announce his resignation on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Bouteflika established himself in the early 2000s by ending a civil war that had claimed 200,000 lives. But he has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, and now faces the biggest crisis of his 20 years in power.

Algeria has long been dominated by veterans of the 1954-1962 independence war against France, but many now see these as too old and out of touch.

The protesters want to replace the establishment with a new generation capable of modernizing the oil-dependent state and giving hope to a young population impatient for a better life.

In the latest blow, one of Bouteflika’s few remaining influential supporters, leading businessman Ali Haddad, resigned as head of the influential FCE business forum.

Under the constitution, the chairman of parliament’s upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days if Bouteflika stepped down. There is, however, no obvious long-term successor. 101/202

 

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