Algerian president wins second term

Abdelmadjid Tebboune has, however, denounced a “contradiction” in results from the top electoral authority

Algerian leader Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been declared the winner of presidential elections held on Saturday. However, Tebboune and his two opponents have accused the North African nation’s electoral authority of announcing contradictory results.

According to provisional figures published by the National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) on Sunday, Tebboune won 94.65% of the vote, leaving his opponents Abdelaali Hassani Cherif and Youcef Aouchiche with just 3.17% and 2.16%, respectively.

“Of 5,630,000 voters recorded, 5,320,000 voted for the independent candidate Abdelmadjid Tebboune, accounting for 94.65%,” Mohamed Charfi, director of ANIE, told reporters in the capital, Algiers.

Election officials reported a preliminary turnout of 48.03% on Saturday out of approximately 24 million Algerians who had registered to vote.

While announcing the outcome of the vote, electoral commission head Charfi said the authority had worked to ensure transparency and fair competition among all contenders.

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However, the three presidential candidates, including Tebboune, issued a joint statement late on Sunday objecting to the figures announced by ANIE. They claimed that the figures, including voter turnout from the top electoral body, were inconsistent with those submitted by municipal election officers.

“We inform public opinion of the ambiguity, contradiction, vagueness, and conflicting numbers recorded with the announcement of the provisional results of the presidential elections,” the three candidates’ campaign directors said in the statement.

Earlier, President Tebboune’s challengers expressed concern about the alleged disparities. Youcef Aouchiche described it as “strange” and opposed attempts to “inflate” the results, while Hassani Cherif’s spokesperson, Ahmed Sadok, described it as “an attack on the image of Algeria.” 

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Tebboune, 78, is widely regarded as the army’s candidate and became Algeria’s leader in 2019, after winning elections following his predecessor Abdulaziz Bouteflika’s forced resignation. Bouteflika, who died in 2021, had led the oil-rich African state for nearly two decades until his bid for a fifth term sparked massive street protests led by the Hirak Movement.

Tebboune has pledged to increase unemployment benefits, pensions, and public housing programs, which he reportedly did during his first term. However, his government has struggled to encourage voter turnout to project legitimacy.

“Turnout at 48% versus 40% in 2019 clearly shows that the gap between rulers and the people is still to be filled,” Reuters quoted political analyst Farid Ferrari as saying.

Algiers has in recent years pushed for reforms to diversify the country’s economy. Late last month, it was granted membership in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) – a move its Finance Ministry called a “major step in the path of integration into the global financial system.”