Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Moroccan-born Algerian politician has been sworn in as Algerian President on Monday for a fourth term in office after polling 81.5 percent of the votes cast.
The ceremony, which was aired on the state-run television, showed Bouteflika sitting in a wheelchair, his right hand placed on the Quran as he repeated with a frail voice the oath read out by a judge. He subsequently said his election was a “victory for the state.”
Bouteflika, who was also in a wheelchair when he cast his own vote on Election Day, has hardly been seen in public since he suffered a minor stroke, which confined him to hospital in Paris, France for three months in 2013.
The Constitutional Council ruled that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 77, won re-election in the April 17 balloting. It is the fourth term in office for Bouteflika since he first came to power in 1999.
The council said the elections were fair and took place under good and transparent conditions.The opposition camp had challenged the announced turnout, saying it did not exceed 20 percent.
The main rival of Bouteflika in the polls, Ali Benflis, former Prime Minister said the elections were marred by fraud in favor of Bouteflika.
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