Algeria cannot hold a presidential election planned for July 4 due to a lack of valid candidates, its constitutional council said on Sunday, prolonging the country’s transition after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned two months ago.
The move will likely extend the rule of interim President Abdelkader Bensalah, who was meant to stay only until the vote to elect a new president after Bouteflika ended his 20-year rule in the wake of mass protests.
Demonstrations have since continued, with protesters demanding Bensalah’s resignation and an end to the dominance of the elite who have ruled Algeria since it won independence from France in 1962.
In a statement on state television, the constitutional council said it had received only two candidates, who were deemed invalid. It did not set a new date for the presidential election, asking Bensalah to organize a vote at a later date, state television said.
