Ali Benflis: “National Popular Army shouldn’t be locked in realm of politics”

Independent candidate Ali Benflis has strongly rejected incumbent president Bouteflika’s recent comments accusing him of stirring anarchy and violence during his election campaign speeches.

Ali Benflis said that the Bouteflika camp wanted to divert the national and international opinion away from the dismal failure of the regime’s policies on all fronts with the practices of cronyism, corruption, nepotism and impunity holding sway over the past 15 years, as he put it.

Addressing a popular rally at the close of the electoral campaign on Sunday in Rouiba town on the eastern outskirts of Algiers, independent candidate Ali Benflis affirmed that the Bouteflika camp was now scared in view of his wide popularity among the Algerian population because he represented what he termed as the salutary change for the country by doing away, if elected as President on April 17, with all the nefarious undemocratic practices of the past.

Ali Benflis also pointed out that the National Popular Army (ANP) shouldn’t get involved in the realm of politics and must remain quite neutral in the upcoming electoral contest and respect the final choice of the electorate, adding that the ANP’s role was chiefly to protect the stability and territorial integrity of the country beyond any other considerations.

Algeria’s incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who eyes a fourth term in the country’s upcoming election, has accused his main rival Ali Benflis of having called for violence during his campaign.

“When a candidate threatens walis (provincial governors) and the authorities to beware for our families and children in case of [election] fraud, what does that mean?” Bouteflika asked on the state television on Saturday.

The Algerian president made the remarks in reference to his main challenger Ali Benflis, who had earlier warned against “fraud” in the country’s April 17 presidential poll in an address to authorities during his election campaign.

“I am speaking to walis: you have family, think about protecting them,” Ali Benflis had said.

Bouteflika further described his rival’s comments as “terrorism via the television,” adding, “There are calls to violence and unorthodox and anti-democratic behavior.”

Benflis was beaten by Bouteflika in Algeria’s 2004 presidential vote. Bouteflika, standing against five other candidates, was reelected at the time with 85 percent of the vote, while Benflis came second with just six percent.

Bouteflika confirmed his new candidacy on March 3 on television, which was his first public appearance since he returned from hospital treatment in the French capital of Paris in July 2013.

The 77-year-old Algerian president faces a number of challenges in the forthcoming election, with several critics charging that Bouteflika is not fit to manage the country as he is suffering speech and movement difficulties following a mini stroke last year.

However, Bouteflika, who has been in power for 15 years, remains popular among many Algerians. Reports say he is widely expected to once again win the April 17 presidential race.