Algeria's Bouteflika stops reforms to assert authority amid health concerns

FILE PHOTO: Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika looks at journalists after casting his ballot during the parliamentary election in Algiers, Algeria, May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has stopped unpopular tax increases and reforms to assert his authority and counter doubts about his health, amid mounting speculation that he will seek a fifth term, analysts said.

There has been uncertainty over the direction of Algeria, an OPEC producer and key gas supplier to Europe, as Bouteflika -- in office since 1999 -- has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.