By RFPosted on 01-04-2019Modified on 01-04-2019 at 19:53

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign "before April 28", the date of the expiry of his term, announced in a statement the presidency of the Republic. The head of state should take "measures to ensure the continuity of the functioning of state institutions during the transition period," the statement added.

The presidency announces that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will leave before the end of the month and that the president will take other important measures, according to the communique "to ensure the continuity of the functioning of state institutions during the transition period ".

It has been almost six weeks since the Algerians protested to demand the departure of the president. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 82, has headed the country since 1999 and announced his candidacy for a fifth term at the beginning of March. This provoked one of the biggest protest movements in the history of the country.

An isolated president

This resignation is what a number of relatives of the president, including Ahmed Ouyahia, the man who was in charge of the government until March 11, asked for. The army, meanwhile, referred to Article 102 of the Constitution which allows the Constitutional Council to meet to declare the state of impediment of the president in case of serious illness.

In addition, organizations that had always supported the head of state, such as employers or veterans-related organizations, said they supported the popular movement.

However, if the departure of the president was a demand of the demonstrators, we must not forget that they also asked for a change of political system and therefore the reactions to this announcement on Monday night, may be mixed.

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