ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria’s ruling coalition party on Wednesday called for the resignation of ailing, 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose long rule has prompted weeks of mass street protests in the country. The RND party’s secretary general and former prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia said in a written statement it “recommends” Bouteflika’s resignation to facilitate the transition of power. “In order to avoid any institutional vacuum, the president must urgently appoint a new government,” he said. The country’s presidential coalition is formed by an alliance of the RND with the FLN party. Bouteflika is credited with bringing peace to his nation after the bloody civil war of the 1990s.

Source: National Post March 27, 2019 10:33 UTC