Ruling Party in Algeria Withdraws Support for Embattled President’s Transition Plan

Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front has withdrawn support for embattled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s proposal to appoint a committee to modify the constitution before holding national elections. The party’s spokesperson told the Dzair TV network that the forum will be of no use, adding: “We ought to establish an independent elections commission… [and] whoever gets [voted in] can then address the people and the [protest] movement.” Bouteflika, who has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, recently agreed not to run for a fifth term amid a major backlash manifested in weeks of demonstrations. In a bid to mollify the hundreds of thousands of protesters, the president canceled the scheduled April 18 elections and advocated for the creation of a commission to rewrite the country’s constitution, which would then be put to a national referendum. However, his refusal to step down when his term ends on April 28, coupled with the failure to set a new date for a presidential vote, has been construed as an attempt to hold onto to power.