The Algerian authorities arrested a number of political and human rights activists, as well as, journalists last Sunday, who protested in the Martyrs Square in the center of the capital, against the fifth term of President” Abdelaziz Bouteflika”.
The activists are part of a "Nationalist Movement" that was formed two months ago, which represents an initiative for the Algerian political activists, jurists and journalists "who adopt the peaceful struggle to defend the democratic principles, political pluralism and the alternation of power."
The activists were arrested and taken to a security center, where the police confiscated their mobile phones, before that all the detainees were released later.
It is noteworthy that” Bouteflika”, the 81-year-old, entered his fourth term since his election in 1999, and won three successive terms, and it is expected that the next presidential election is likely to be held in April or May 2019.
The Algerian president has not yet announced his position in reaction to the calls for his candidacy for a fifth term, launched by the National Liberation Front and the General Federation of Algerian Workers.
Opposition parties and figures are calling on the president “Bouteflika” not to run for a fifth term because of his health problems and sufferings since the stroke of 2013.
In last May, 14 opposition political figures in Algeria called on the president “Abdelaziz Bouteflika” not to respond to his candidacy for a fifth term because it would be " a catastrophe for him and the country."
A few days ago, the secretary-general of the National Liberation Front, “Jamal Ould”, said that 26 political parties and 8 organizations supported Bouteflika's continued tenure and supported his candidacy for a fifth term. #Algeria #detention #oppositionists #Bouteflika #fifth_term
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