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Algerian elections have been postponed. They were due to take place in April.
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will not run for a fifth term, the presidency said Monday. The office also announced the postponement of a presidential election which was due to take place on April 18.
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Presdient Bouteflika made the announcement, which was then shared by Algeria's state news, Algeria Press Service. The announcement came Monday after President Bouteflika flew home to Algeria Sunday after spending two weeks in a Swiss hospital.
The country has been riled by protests with scores asking him to resign despite his promise to leave office in the near future. Large-scale demonstrations, rarely seen in Algeria with its omnipresent security services, began several weeks ago and were mostly peaceful, however, at least 200 were reported to have been injured according to state media, APS.
Bouteflika was elected in 1999 with backing from the country's military generals, pledging to end the civil war that erupted after the military annulled an election in 1992 that Islamists claimed they were poised to win.
He negotiated a truce to end the fighting, which killed as estimated 200,000 people, and wrested power from the secretive military-based establishment known as "le pouvoir" (the power). He also granted amnesty to militants who laid down their arms.
A government reshuffle will also take place soon, the presidency said in a statement.
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