Algeria protests against president

"This gang has to leave, there will not be a fifth term, we are tired of you, the government has to leave." this what people of Algeria said.
Millions of Algerians have been participating in national events since February.
They oppose the decision of 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run for a fifth term. He has been running the country for 20 years, and sinece minimum six years he has struggled to speak or walk. So what do these events mean for the future of the country?
Algeria gained independence from France in 1962.
Support for self-reliance was led by the so-called National Liberation Army - which later became the country's official military force.

He has played a major role in the Algerian political system for more than five decades. The young Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who joined the National Liberation Army during the revolution, quickly became involved in politics.
He became Minister of Foreign Affairs at the age of 26.
Corruption charges eventually forced him into exile on his own in 1981, first in Switzerland, then in the United Arab Emirates.

Bouteflika returned to Algeria in 1987 and was reinstated to the ruling party.

The following year, a protest movement led mainly by young people and fueled by a major recession swept the country.

He was confronted with repression by the government. 120 people died according to the official figures.But activists estimate the number at around 500.

The demonstrations managed to force the government to end the one-party system and to give greater freedom to the media.

This also led to the first democratic elections in the country.

The gradual political liberalization that followed allowed the Islamic Salvation Front party to gain a foothold in domestic politics.

In response, the military overturned the country's legislative vote in 1991, which would certainly have brought the Islamic Salvation Front to power in the largest country in Africa.

The civil war that followed ten years has claimed the lives of 200,000 Algerians and about 15,000 enforced disappearances.

In 1999, during the war, Bouteflika agreed to run for president.
His opponents complained that the vote was rigged and abandoned.
Bouteflika won with 74% of the votes.
He spent his early years in the presidency trying to end the civil war.

He advanced the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation of 2005, which granted amnesty to armed groups.

He then tried to pull the country out of diplomatic isolation and revive its stagnant economy.

sourse: Aljazeerra English.