Algeria's Bouteflika resigns: state news agency

Algeria's embattled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, state news agency APS reported.

1 min read

02 April, 2019

Bouteflika hands his resignation letter to the Constitutional Council's president [Getty]

Algeria's veteran President Abdelaziz Bouteflika informed the Constitutional Council that he is resigning in a move that is to take effect immediately, state news agency APS reported on Tuesday.

Bouteflika "officially advised the Constitutional Council of the end of his term of office as President of the Republic" from Tuesday, said a news ticker on the television.

The news came shortly after the country's defence ministry aggressively called for Bouteflika to quit "immediately".

Armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah called for "the immediate application of the constitutional procedure for removing the head of state from power", in a defence ministry statement after a meeting of top brass.

Salah, a long-time Bouteflika ally, last week called on the president to resign or be declared unfit to rule, becoming one of the first of his faithful supporters to abandon him.

Bouteflika has come under mounting pressure to step down since his decision to seek a fifth term despite rarely being seen in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.

The 82-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, said last month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered protesters who saw it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power.

Follow us on Twitter: @The_NewArab