Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika lost a “valuable ally” after liberation icon Louisa Ighilahriz quit her post in the upper house of parliament.
Ighilahriz, 90, told Asharq Al-Awsat that she submitted her resignation because she objects to Bouteflika running for a fifth term in office.
“I refuse this because he is not the actual ruler. Other people are ruling in his name,” she charged.
She explained that her experience during the Algerian revolution and her credibility before the people “pushed her to quit this charade” at parliament.
“I do not want to play a role that I no longer believe in,” Ighilahriz added.
“The president is sick and unable to run the country. Members of his close circle are really the ones who are ruling in his name, but they are operating behind the scenes,” she went on to say in an indirect reference to his brother and senior aide Saeed Bouteflika and Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah.
These two figures are seen as Algeria’s two most powerful figures.
They are blamed for the dismissal of a number of generals during the past two months, including five senior commanders who have been jailed on corruption charges.
Ighilahriz rose to prominence during the Algerian Revolution (1954-1962) after she was detained by the French occupiers and gang raped while in captivity.
