Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will stand for re-election in April, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal says.
"The prime minister officially announces the candidacy of the president of the (Algerian) republic for the coming elections," due on April 17, a screen caption read on Algerian television on Saturday.
Sellal was speaking in Oran, west of Algiers, on the sidelines of an economic seminar.
Bouteflika has a huge contingent of supporters who have been pushing for him to declare his candidacy, notably his powerful party, the National Liberation Front which has ruled Algeria single-handedly for nearly three decades.
But the president has remained silent.
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In fact, he hasn't addressed the country since a stroke last April.
Doubts have been raised about whether he is physically robust enough to get through another five-year term.
