Bouteflika: boycotting expresses feeling of not belonging to Algerian nation

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called on people to cast ballots on Thursday’s elections describing voting as a duty meant to save the nation from division.

In a letter addressed to the Algerian people, Bouteflika considered boycotting without valuable reasons is an attitude expressing feeling of not belonging to the Algerian nation.

“I am calling on all the citizens not to miss the voting and to express their choice to concretize their sovereignty which was recovered at the highest price,” said the letter.

“Every Algerian should follow our honorable martyrs and protect this priceless nation. They have to remember that we have no other country but Algeria,” it added.

Speaking about calls for boycott, Bouteflika said this attitude does not express the feeling of belonging to the nation.

“Ahead of the elections, I should remind that political sovereignty belongs to people. Because of that, they have to do it if they want to build a correct democratic system by reactivating this sovereignty through voting.  This to say that building democracy depends on voting turnover.”

The president avoided to call on people to vote for him as he tried to put himself on the same line with the other five candidates.

Speaking about achievements, he said what was done in 1999-2014 shows considerable efforts made. “What was achieved for the Algerian society is not available in many countries.”