After being declared the winner of Algeria’s election, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has joined his two challengers in criticizing the country’s election authority for announcing results that contradicted earlier turnout figures and local tallies. The claims of irregularities mar what had earlier appeared to be a landslide victory for the 78-year-old head of state. The country’s independent election authority on Sunday announced that Tebboune had won 94.7% of Saturday’s vote, far outpacing his challengers Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who received only 3.2% and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who got just 2.2%. Hours later, the three campaigns jointly issuing a statement accusing the country’s election chairman of announcing contradictory results.
