Algeria’s ruling party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has stated that it will not support the ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his decision to postpone the elections indefinitely, after withdrawing from the race.

According to Aljazeera, the party announced its decision to distance itself from the 82-year-old president through its spokesman, Hocine Khaldoun, during a broadcast on Dzair Tv on Sunday, as they look towards getting the country back on track, politically.

Khaldoun stated that what the country really needs is an elected president to fully get things in order and, to that end, they will hold a national dialogue conference where they will discuss the issues at hand and, hopefully, proffer workable solutions.

“Honestly, we are going to revise our position on the conference, even though conference will not solve the issue because participants will not be elected.”

“The conference will not be of any use. What we need is an elected president. If we want to win time, then we ought to establish an independent elections commission…whoever gets elected can then address the people and the movement,” he said.

Bouteflika, who sought a ‘shorter’ fifth term, withdrew from the race on March 11, announcing a national conference intent on laying down a new constitution before carrying out early presidential elections.

While his withdrawal from the election was lauded by the people and international community, his follow up decision to remain in office until a successor is elected, despite indefinitely postponing the polls, has fuelled more protests in the country.

The opposition has also called on the president, who has rarely been seen in public since his 2013 stroke, to step down from office.

So far, the country’s Prime Minister, Noureddine Bedoui, who was tasked with setting up a transitional government, has been unable to do so.

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