Days after becoming the first candidate to announce a run for president in the April elections, Algerian retired general Ali Ghediri made his first public appearance on Sunday with a speech in which he vowed to challenge the regime. “I am determined to defy this regime until the end,” said the 64-year-old general, who retired in 2015. “It is either me or this regime that I am challenging it through running for president.” Ghediri, a former personnel director in the defense ministry, is the first figure to announce his candidacy against 81-year-old incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power since 1999. “I came to defy this regime, which does not frighten me,” Ghediri declared during a press conference attended by hundreds of journalists. Asked about his chances to win the elections despite lacking any support from high-ranking forces within the regime, he replied: “I have another kind of support: the people. Neither the army nor warplanes frighten me.” He said that until this day, Bouteflika is the president of Algeria. “Tomorrow, if he decides to run for president as an Algerian citizen, then I will confront him as such.” Under law, candidates for the presidency have until March 4 to register with the constitutional court. It is still uncertain whether Bouteflika will stand for re-election. Earlier this month, former Prime Minister Ali Benflis became the second official announce his decision to run for president. Addressing opposition fears that the election results could be subject to fraud, Ghediri said: “I am determined to change things. If some fraud happened in the past, it is because the national elite was absent then. We should not be silent anymore facing this phenomena, which has ravaged the country.” Ghediri had stirred controversy in recent weeks over a memo he had sent to the media in which he called on the military institution to bar Bouteflika from submitting his candidacy for president should he choose to run for another term. Ghediri had come under fierce criticism from regime strongman Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah, who threatened to strip him of his military rank. The retired officer’s press conference Sunday will likely draw sharp criticism from Salah.