Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has chosen Abdelghani Za'alan as his new campaign manager instead of Abdelmalek Salal in a bid to win a fifth term, while leading opposition figures met on Saturday evening, the state news agency Agence France-Presse reported on Saturday.
This change comes a day before the end of the legal deadlines for the filing of presidential candidates files with the Constitutional Council, as stipulated by the Constitution of the country. Bouteflika has not yet submitted his candidacy.
It also comes a day after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to protest Bouteflika's 81-year-old presidential term.
The president is currently undergoing medical examinations at the Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland, with reports of his health deteriorating.
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Medical examinations
On 24 February, Bouteflika flew to Geneva for 48 hours for regular medical examinations, according to a previous presidential statement.
The president did not announce the date of his return before the legal deadline for submission of the candidature file was reached by midnight (23:00 GMT), but there was no legal justification forcing the candidate to personally submit his file to the Constitutional Council.
On Friday evening, Euro News quoted an unnamed official security source as saying that the presidential plane had returned from Switzerland to Algiers without Bouteflika on board.
The same channel quoted an unnamed government source as saying that Bouteflika on Friday summoned his diplomatic advisor and former foreign minister Ramtan Lamamra to Geneva to negotiate the possibility of appointing the latter as prime minister.
There has yet to be a formal response from the authorities denying or confirming what is being discussed about Bouteflika's health situation at the Geneva hospital and the return of the presidential plane without him.
| Protesters reject President Bouteflika's candidacy for a fifth term (Anatolia) |
Opposition meeting
The opposition meeting in the evening at the headquarters of the Justice and Development Party in the capital, the influx of figures of heavy weight, such as Mujahid Lakhdar Borkaa and rights Mustafa Boshashi.
The list of invitees included names such as former Prime Minister Ahmed Ben Bitour, President of the Party of Liberals Ali Benflis, President of the Movement for the Society of Peace (Homs) Abdul Razzaq Mqri, as well as representatives of the Labor and Renaissance parties, the Socialist Forces Front and the Rally for Culture and Democracy .
Rachid Nqaz and Ghani Mahdi were also invited to the meeting, and the meeting was expected to be announced by announcing the position of the opposition regarding the entry of a joint candidate on April 18.
| Clashes between protesters and security last week (Reuters) |
Funeral and condolences
In other developments, dozens of citizens - who came from different regions - participated today in the solemn funeral of Hassan Ben Khadah, who died of a stampede during the demonstrations against Bouteflika's candidacy yesterday in Algiers.
The various heads of the opposition parties attended the funeral to offer condolences to the family of the deceased, including Ben Flis, the head of the Justice and Development Front Abdullah Jaballah, and Interior Minister Noureddine Badawi went to the hospital to offer condolences to the people of Ben Khadah.
It is noteworthy that the deceased son of the late d. Yusuf bin Khadah, head of the interim government in 1962, who has worked in Britain as a university professor for more than twenty years is scheduled to return 12 years ago.