The acute risk of political instability has been growing steadily in Algeria at the wake of 2019. The decision by president Abdelazis Bouteflika to seek a 5th consecutive term in elections scheduled for April 2019, despite his poor state of health, provoked the largest political protests in Algeria.
Elected President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria in 1999, the 82-years old is the 5th and the longest serving head of state the North African country has had.He relinquished power on April 2, following weeks of massive street protests against his 20-year rule. Hundred of thousands of people took part in nationwide demonstrations demanding the sick leader, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013, to step down.
Algeria's constitutional council on Sunday cancelled elections planned for next month, July, 4, acceding to demands from protesters who since February have upended the country's politics.
Abdelkader Bensalah has been appointed as the new interim president of the country by the Algeria's parliament for the next three months, prompting thousands of students to pour into the streets in protest.