Algerian army chief calls for president to be declared unfit
ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria’s powerful army chief called Tuesday for starting the constitutional process to have President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office, possibly paving the way for the ailing president’s ouster after 20 years in power.
Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah’s statement comes after more than a month of mass protests against Bouteflika’s long rule. The 82-year-old leader has rarely been seen in public since he suffered a stroke in 2013.
Gaid Salah said in remarks carried on Algerian television that “the only guarantee for political stability” is to apply the article of the Algerian constitution that empowers the constitutional Council to determine if the president is too ill to do his job, and to ask lawmakers to declare him unfit.