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Africa

As Algerian leader ails, would-be challengers eye election

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    In this Feb. 5, 2019, photo, a man walks past a poster asking citizen to register to vote in Algiers. More than 180 people want to run for president of Algeria in the April election, amid growing uncertainty about whether President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, infirm following a stroke, is fit for yet another term after 20 years in charge of this gas-rich North African nation. (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul)

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    FILE - In this March 29, 2018 file photo, former Algerian Prime Minister Ali Benflis talks to the Associated Press in Algiers. More than 180 people want to run for president of Algeria in the April election, amid growing uncertainty about whether President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, infirm following a stroke, is fit for yet another term after 20 years in charge of this gas-rich North African nation. Among Bouteflika's top challengers is Benflis, the runnerup in 2014 and today's main opposition candidate. (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul, File)

ALGIERS, Algeria – A record number of candidates want to run for Algerian president in April's election, amid growing uncertainty about whether ailing incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika is fit for a fifth term.

A total of 186 people have requested documents to declare their candidacy since the electoral process began last month. That's more than double the number of potential candidates at this stage in the last vote in 2014.

Most won't get the signatures necessary to appear on the April 18 ballot. But the multitude of potential candidates suggests frustration with the status quo and Algeria's political structure.

The 82-year-old Bouteflika, who has led Algeria for 20 years, is expected to announce his candidacy soon despite the fact that a 2013 stroke left him speaking and moving with difficulty. He is rarely seen in public.