(Algiers) Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was ousted from power in 2019, died on Friday at the age of 84 after massive protests against his desire to run for a new post.
A banner appeared on national television quoting the president’s statement as saying, “The death of former President Abdelaziz Botteflika.”
His burial date has not been announced.
Due to his spectacular fall under the pressure of the military and the street in April 2019, the Algerians became known as “Budef”, confined to solitary confinement at his nursing home in Geralda, west of Algiers, and then his relatives were prosecuted for corruption.
Despite his illness, after 20 years in power, his downfall has become inevitable after several weeks of massive protests against his desire to run for a fifth five-year term.
Boudeflika, born March 2, 1937, “died at his home at 10 a.m. (5 p.m.),” according to private channel L. Hyatt TV.
Exceptionally long life
Photo by Mohammad Rawas, Agencies France-Press Archives
Yasser Arafat and the Apothecary Bouteflika in October 2000.
Although he has been ubiquitous in Algerian political life for decades, almost completely invisible after the paralysis in 2013, after a popular uprising called “Hirak” and the military forced him to resign, Bouteflika gave no sign of life.
That was the last time he appeared on TV that day and he announced that he was throwing in the towel. However, despite the expulsion of Bouteflika and his clan, Hirak continued, with the election of his successor Abdelmadjit Deboun in 2019.
The movement calls for the overthrow of the regime that has been in place since independence in 1962, but officials say key demands of the protesters have been met.
Bouteflika’s fourth term took place against the backdrop of falling oil prices for a hydrocarbon-dependent economy.
Photo by Adelberto Roque, Agens France-Press Archives
Fidel Castro and Apothecary Pudeflica in April 2000
The treasury was empty and, as the Arab Spring had invaded the region in 2011, could no longer buy social peace.
Official television stations were pleased to announce the death of the former head of state, although their programs were not interrupted to dedicate special programs to him.
Aside from the official announcement, Poteflicka’s death did not lead to an immediate opinion from the authorities, but Internet users have commented in detail on the disappearance of the person who ruled Algeria from 1999 to 2019.
“Power at all costs”
“Aptelas Bouteflika died in a devastated country. Finally, he will be in good hands and he will judge as he deserves,” Sabrina Debapsa wrote on her Facebook page.
The last death of a president. Bootheflica survived all rumors. This time the rumor is dead. And with him ”, says another journalist Kareem Alem on the same network.
Bouteflika continued to spread rumors about his health and death as his stroke made him incapacitated and he was wheeled into a wheelchair. But, each time, he reappeared in public to deny it.
His candidacy was felt for the fifth time in a row by millions of Algerians who took to the streets in major cities across the country since February 22, 2019.
He was re-elected for the first time in 1999, and was re-elected in the first round in 2004, 2009 and 2014 with more than 80% of the vote, this is the fifth time he has been bought by the regime.
But an unprecedented six-week Hirak mobilization in Algeria – at the time – forced the army chief, General Ahmed Qaid Salah, to accept the resignation of one of his loyalists.
“Throughout his life, Abdelaziz Bouteflika was driven by two passions: to gain power and to hold on to it at all costs. .
Bouteflika is considered the architect of national reconciliation, which has made it possible to restore peace in Algeria, plunging into a civil war against an Islamic guerrilla since 1992, which has caused about 200,000 deaths in ten years, according to official records.
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