Algeria Sworn in Bouteflika As President

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been sworn in as president on Monday for a fourth term in office.

Bouteflika took oath in Nation’s Palace in western Algiers in accordance with Article 75 of the Constitution. It is the final stage of the presidential election process, before being officially proclaimed president.

The ceremony was aired on the state-run television, showing Bouteflika sitting on a chair with his right hand on the holly Quran. In front of the President of the Supreme Court, Bouteflika pronounced the oath in Arabic language.

Earlier, the president reviewed detachments of the national army, and then he was welcomed by top state officials.

An official source told Xinhua that the government staff will resign after Bouteflika’s swearing ceremony, saying the president is likely to renew confidence on Abdelmalek Sellal as prime minister or rather would appoint another politician not necessarily from the ruling coalition.

But the FLN party claims to amend the constitution in order to give it the right to lead the government given that it is the major party in the parliament since 2002.

The Constitutional Council ruled that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 77, won re-election in the April 17 balloting. It is the fourth term in office for Bouteflika since he first came to power in 1999.

The council put the turnout at 50.70 percent, down from the 51. 70 percent posted earlier, and raised the number of votes for Bouteflika to 8.5 million, up from the original 8.3 million.

It said the elections were fair and took place in good and transparent conditions. The opposition camp had challenged the announced turnout, saying it did not exceed 20 percent.

The main rival of Bouteflika in the polls, former Prime Minister Ali Benflis, said the elections were marred by fraud in favor of Bouteflika. 

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