He reigned over Algeria for twenty years from 1999 to 2009 before being forced, under popular and military pressure, to give up running for a fifth term.
Decreased by stroke since 2003
Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika died at his home at the age of 84. He had been severely diminished since a stroke in 2003 which left him aphasic and confined to a wheelchair. His public appearances since were rare and rumors of his death circulated regularly.
** Record of longevity in power in Algeria
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Omnipresent for decades on the Algerian political scene, Abdelaziz Bouteflika embodied for the “Hirak”, the opposition movement in Algeria, a bygone and corrupt system.
By leaving power in 2009, he left the country in a serious economic crisis, marked by the plunge in oil prices, an essential sector for the Algerian economy.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who holds the record for longevity in power in Algeria, will also go down in history as the architect of national reconciliation after the war which opposed for ten years, from 1991, the Algerian army to various Islamist groups.
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