The situation in Algeria, just weeks before presidential elections scheduled for April, is confusing. Abdelmadjid Menasra, leader of the opposition Islamist-affiliated Front for Change, met with Al-Monitor to share his views on the current environment.
According to Menasra, “The recent events in Algeria have to do with the elections, and they are the result of the absence of the president [Abdelaziz Bouteflika] from the leadership of the political scene because of his health. The president has yet to specify his position on whether or not he will run in the elections. Thus, there was a vacuum that some supporters of a fourth term [for Bouteflika] tried to fill. But they did this in a wrong way and were struck by confusion as the deadline for announcing candidacies approaches.”