Colton Quist

The Algerian presidential elections have been in a state of flux since the beginning of 2019. Initially former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika intended to run for reelection to a fifth term in office, but amid an outpouring of protests at this prospect due to allegations of corruption he withdrew his reelection bid and postponed the election as a result. The election was originally scheduled for April 18, 2019 has been rescheduled for July 4th (“Alegeria sets presidential…”). Shortly after announcing he would not seek a fifth term Bouteflika resigned as president leaving the head of the Council of the Nation (Algeria’s upper house of parliament), Abdelkader Bensalah, to be acting head of state. Bensalah is not able to participate as a candidate in the election under Algerian law (“Algerian Constitutional Council…”).