The 81-year-old announced he would stand for office in a written statement on 10 February. He reportedly suffered a stroke in 2013 and has been in and out of hospitals for years.
Students demonstrated at campuses in the country’s centre, west, east and south, as well as in the national capital Algiers, after police barred them from taking to the streets.
Algerians will go to the polls on 18 April. The opposition remains split ahead of the election after initially trying to field a single candidate to challenge the incumbent president.