Bouteflika.

ALGIERS – Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal resigned on Thursday, March 13, state media said, to run the re-election campaign of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the ageing independence leader who is widely expected to win five more years in power.

Bouteflika, 77, registered his candidacy for the April 17 presidential race last week, one of the few times he has spoken in public since suffering a stroke last year that raised opposition questions about his ability to govern.

Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi will replace Sellal as interim premier, state news agency APS said.

With the support of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party, unions and army factions, Bouteflika is almost assured a win the election. 

Algeria, an oil producer, is an ally in Washington’s fight against Islamist militants.

But Bouteflika’s low profile since his illness has triggered questions about his health and ability to run the country.

Sellal has said Bouteflika’s condition is fine. 

Since independence from France in 1962, observers say Algerian politics have been dominated by backroom negotiations among a group of powerful FLN veterans, business leaders and army generals known as “Le Pouvoir” or “The Power” in French.

Several opposition parties have called for a boycott of April’s vote because they say Bouteflika’s candidacy and the FLN dominance eliminates any fair competition. Other opposition leaders say he is too sick and should step aside.