Ahead of Algeria’s presidential elections in April, president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who seeks a fifth term in April elections, will head to Switzerland for his routine medical checks.
The president who has been in power since 1999 has been on a wheel chair since 2013 when he was hit by stroke. 81 year old Bouteflika agrees that his physical force is absent but his will to serve is undying.
Reports has it that he regularly visits hospitals overseas, most recently spending five days in Switzerland in August for unspecified tests. Bouteflika also spent another 80 days in hospital in Paris following his 2013 stroke, which affected his mobility and speech.
His last public appearance was on November 1 and it was found that he could no longer deliver public speeches, which has fuelled constant speculation on his health. He however appeared on television on Thursday, alongside other senior officials attending the swearing-in of the new president of the Constitutional Council president Tayeb Belaiz.
Bouteflika made his ambition for a fifth term known on the 10th of February and he was duly endorsed by his party and ruling coalition.
Last weekend Algerians held rallies against his fifth mandate, and social media users have called for Friday demonstrations to oppose his candidacy.
