When Abdelaziz Bouteflika returned to Algeria from Paris in July, following an absence of three months due to a mini-stroke he suffered in April, the world discovered that the 76-year-old president was using a wheelchair. The image had a strong political significance.
Many observers had thought that Mr Bouteflika’s former plan to amend the constitution and run for a fourth term was a thing of the past. Many were wondering whether he was physically able to govern, or who his successor would be. Then, without warning, the position moved from one where Mr Bouteflika was hors de combat, out of the game and about to be impeached for medical reasons according to Article 88 of the Algerian constitution, to the position where he is getting ready to run for a fourth term.
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