Bouteflika stands down bows to massive Algerian protests

Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will not run for a fifth term, the presidency said on Monday in surrender to weeks of protests calling for the ailing leader to step down after ruling for 20 years. The presidential election planned for April was postponed and a government reshuffle would take place soon.  Tens of thousands of people from all social classes have been demonstrating almost daily against Bouteflika’s decision to  stay in power, rejecting a stale political system dominated by veterans of an independence war against France that ended in 1962.