Algerian army vows to secure presidential election

ALGIERS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Army Chief of Staff and Deputy Defense Minister Ahmed Gaid Salah on Wednesday said that military institution is committed to secure the presidential polls due on April 18.

"Within the National People's Army and all the other security corps, we are resolutely committed to guaranteeing all necessary security conditions to enable our people to exercise their right and duty to vote within a climate of calm and stability," APS news agency quoted the chief of staff as saying during the second day of his visit to Cherchell Military Academy in the province of Tipaza, 55 km west of the capital Algiers.

Gaid Salah was addressing troops and officials at the academy, saying securing the election is a "heavy national responsibility" that "everyone will have to assume."

He concluded by assuming that "Army will always remain the loyal guardian of the supreme interests of our country in accordance with the Constitution and laws," assuring that "Algeria is strong with its people and safe with its Army."

This is the second statement of Gaid Salah in two days, as he has already commented on the popular protest movement sweeping the North African nation in recent weeks, urging the people to safeguard the country's stability and security.

Algeria is witnessing widespread protests to call on incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to give up his decision to seek a fifth term, during the April 18 presidential election.

He suffered a stroke in 2013, and he was re-elected in 2014 for a fourth term until 2019.

Bouteflika, 82, is still enduring medical treatment in Switzerland's Geneva.