Algerian incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is due to submit his candidacy for a fifth term in office to the Constitutional Council on March 3, state-run radio Channel 1 on Tuesday reported.

"No one has the right to prevent an Algerian citizen from running for presidency. It's a constitutional right," the report quoted Bouteflika's campaign manager, Abdelmamlek Sellal, as saying.

Sellal, who served as prime minister a couple of years ago, was referring to massive protests that are calling on Bouteflika to renounce his decision to seek a fifth term in office during April 18 polls.

On Feb. 10, Bouteflika announced that he would run in the forthcoming presidential election, due on April 18, while opposition parties urged him to quit the scene for new generation to lead the country.

Bouteflika is currently in Geneva for medical examinations, according to a presidential statement.

Bouteflika, 81-year-old, suffered a stroke in 2013, and he was re-elected in 2014 for a fourth term until 2019.

A wide spread protest movement, composed of citizens, students, lawyers, and activists from different tendencies, has been triggered in the North African nation to call on Bouteflika to give up his decision to seek a fifth term.

Xinhua