Algeria Declares April 18 Date For Presidential Election

Algeria on Friday said its presidential elections will hold on April 18, ending speculation that the vote could be postponed.

“Bouteflika has issued a decree tasking an electoral commission with preparing for the April 18 polls,’’ the presidency said in a statement.

It is not clear yet, if incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke in 2013, will run for a fifth term.

The 81-year-old wheelchair-bound president has been in power since 1999.

According to reports, he is rarely seen in public.

In recent years, energy-rich Algeria’s finances have been hurt by the global drop in oil prices, prompting cuts in state subsidies.

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