Algeria to hold presidential elections on April 9

Algerian government on Saturday set April 9 as the date of the presidential elections while President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is likely to announce run for office in the next few days.

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• “The President of the Republic signed on Saturday the presidential decree convening the electorate for Thursday, April 9, 2009, with a view to electing the presidency of the Republic,” Algeria News Agency (APS) reported.
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• The Algerian president has appointed former justice minister Mohamed Teguia at the head of the national political committee on elections monitoring.
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• Bouteflika, reaching the end of his second and final term changed the Constitution to put no limit for a president to be re-elected.
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• His allies believe the new constitution would promote freedoms and democracy in Algeria while opposition says he uses it as a trick to stay in power.