Algeria election: Nekkaz to withdraw if Bouteflika approved Algerian businessman Rachid Nekkaz says he will retract the candidature of his cousin and namesake if the Algerian Constitutional Council validates current president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's candidacy. Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, and his bid to secure another term at the April 18 election has sparked waves of protests. He has been in Switzerland since February 24 for what the presidency has described as "routine medical tests". IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES of Algerian businessman Rachid Nekkaz