Protests against President Abdulaziz Bouteflika’s run for a fifth term in office raged for a third straight day in Algeria amid a wave of arrests against activists in the capital. Thousands have taken to the streets of the capital and other cities since Friday calling on the authorities to abandon plans for Bouteflika, 81, to stand in a presidential election scheduled to be held on April 18. Bouteflika, in office since 1999, suffered a stroke in 2013. He has since been seen in public only a handful of times and has given no public speeches in years. Bouteflika ignored the popular uproar and instead stressed the need for “continuity” in the country. State media quoted a letter in the president’s name read out at a government oil and gas industry event in the southern town of Adrar as saying: “Continuity is the best option for Algeria.” “Continuity helps each generation build on the achievements of the previous one, it guarantees that they learn from marginal missteps and allows Algeria to intensify its efforts to compete with other countries in achieving progress,” he added. He also warned against terrorism and cross-border crimes, saying that the army needs the people to “remain vigilant to act as its strong support to preserve the stability of the country.” Bouteflika was scheduled to travel to Geneva Sunday for “routine medical checks”, said a presidency statement Friday. In Algiers, security forces fired tear gas at the protesters and arrested dozens as they peacefully rallied in the Maurice Audin Square. Among the detainees was Zubaida Assoul of the opposition Mouwatana movement. A total of 41 protesters were detained on Friday, state news agency APS said. It gave no arrest for the last two days. Journalists working for state media protested against what they said were orders from managers not to cover the marches. “The decision of our hierarchy to ignore the big protests of Friday, February 21, shows the hell of our situation,” said a statement released by journalists working for state radio. “I categorically refuse to endorse a behavior that doesn’t respect the most elementary rules of our job,” a star reporter and editor for state radio, Meriem Abdou, said in a statement announcing that she had decided to quit.