ALGIERS — Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sworn in for a fourth five-year term on Monday, April 28, after he easily won an election opponents dismissed as fraudulently returning the ailing 77-year-old to power.

State television showed Bouteflika sitting in a wheelchair to take the oath and give a brief statement in one of his rare public appearances since a stroke last year that raised questions about his ability to govern.

Bouteflika struggled to recite the oath of office and give a speech at his televised inauguration. “Bouteflika flunked his oral,” the leading El Watan newspaper said in an editorial.

The El Khabar daily put the issue on its front page, describing Bouteflika’s speech as “incomplete”.

It noted that after reciting the 94-word oath in Arabic, the president stumbled on his words during his speech, a copy of which was distributed to journalists at the ceremony, which lasted 30 minutes.

The French-language Liberte described the ceremony as “expeditious” and said Bouteflika “only read the preamble of the confusing speech,” which was 12 pages long.

“Yesterday’s performance reminded us, once again, of the stubborn issue of the president’s capacity to effectively undertake his duties,” it said.

Meanwhile, the youth protest movement Barakat said it sent a letter to the Constitutional Council on Tuesday calling for Bouteflika to be impeached over his inability to rule.

The request was based on footage showing Bouteflika had “failed to read all his text and only one paragraph of the 29 in the speech,” Barakat’s Amina Bouraoui said.