Algeria's electoral authorities announced Sunday that incumbent President Aboulmadjid Tebboune was the winner of the questionable election, with 95 percent of the vote.
Opposition politicians denounced the election as a “farce” and accused Tebboune of stuffing votes into the ballot boxes to avoid a runoff.
Tebboune did indeed join the opposition; Complain They protested against election fraud, pointing out that the election results released by election authorities differed significantly from local vote tallying and far exceeded voter turnout.
According to Algeria's National Independent Electoral Commission (ANIE), Tebboune was re-elected with 94.7 percent of the vote, followed by Islamist Abedrali Hassani Cherif with 3.2 percent and Socialist Youssef Auchiche with 2.2 percent.
Tebboune (78 years old) Widely supported President Trump had hoped to win a second term but was disappointed with less than 40 percent of voters in his first election and wanted a much higher turnout this time to solidify the faith of his shaky administration.
Tebun is Elected Massive pro-democracy protests in 2019 forced his predecessor, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to step down after two decades in power. Like many in the Arab Spring countries, disillusioned Algerians have come to feel they have merely replaced another dictator.
Tebboune came to power and cracked down harshly on anti-government protests, backed by Algeria's overly powerful military, and made his reelection a mere formality by disqualifying almost all of his opponents.
“The authorities don't want to have real elections that can bring real change. All the country's resources have been dedicated to the presidential election,” complained opposition leader Zubaida Asour after being disqualified from running in the 2024 elections.
“How can we have fair and democratic elections when journalists and activists are jailed for social media posts? I had to quit several jobs because freedom of expression was restricted,” said journalist Abdelwakil Bram as the election rallied.
Algerian youth feel particularly alienated from the political system, as they feel that the 2019 pro-democracy protests ultimately brought little substantive change. Youth unemployment in Algeria is over 30 percent, while the general unemployment rate is around 12 percent, prompting many economic migrants to try their luck in other countries. About half Most Algerian voters are dissatisfied with the party, which is a major factor in low voter turnout in the elections.
Tebboune's voters often say they voted for him because he seemed the candidate most likely to keep paying pensions and welfare subsidies. European demand for Algerian gas has surged since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and Tebboune has used much of his government's revenue to fund social programs.
Islamist Hasani Sherif movement It is called ANIE called the election a “farce” and accused electoral authorities of discarding votes cast for him and another opposition candidate, Yousef Aousiche, to inflate Tebboune's margin of victory. ANIE claimed turnout was 48 percent, a figure significantly higher than in the 2019 election.
Hasani's campaign manager, Ahmed Sadduq, said the election was a “sham election” and that the announced results “tarnish the country's image.”
“It's a shame. It's an attack on Algeria's image and will make it a laughing stock among countries,” Sadok said. said.
“We inform the public about the ambiguities, inconsistencies, unclearness and conflicting figures recorded in the announcement of the provisional results of the presidential election,” the three campaigns said in a joint statement on Sunday.
