Algerians head to polls as Tebboune sets sights on second term as president

Incumbent is facing two competitors in a race that many say lacks real political competition

Algeria was holding its presidential election on Saturday with President Abdelmajid Tebboune widely expected to win a second five-year term.

About 24 million people are eligible to vote in the election, which pits Mr Tebboune against secular candidate Youcef Aouchiche of the Socialist Forces Front and Abdelaali Hassani Cherif of the Movement of Society for Peace, an Islamist party.

The National Independent Election Authority (ANIE) said on Friday that all preparations were complete and that it would conduct the poll according to its “constitutional obligations of neutrality, transparency, and preserving the freedom of choice of the voter”. About 13,000 polling stations have been set up across Algeria's 58 governorates, including 139 mobile stations for Bedouin communities and residents of remote villages in the south. Voting is scheduled to take place from 8am until 7pm.

More than 800,000 Algerians living overseas began casting ballots on Monday. The ANIE said it set up 117 commissions to oversee the voting, including 18 in France, 30 in the rest of Europe, 22 in Arab countries, 21 in African countries, and 26 in Asia and America.

Polling got off to a slow start, with the election authority saying 4.46 per cent of voters cast ballots in the first two hours after polls opened, the official APS news agency reported.

Mr Tebboune, who came to power in December 2019 following months of pro-democracy protests that removed his predecessor, long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is considered the favourite.

“Unfortunately Tebboune is the closest to power both in terms of his practical and tactical capabilities and especially because he is the one that the military and people above are relying on,” Amira Drid, 31, a resident of north-western city of Tlemcen, told The National.

“He has also been able to maintain his title as a populist that makes a large proportion of the people support him.”

Algeria has a long history of overlap between the military and the civil state’s governing institutions. The military's influence in all branches of authority has continued to grow since the country’s independence from France in 1962.

Ms Drid said that of Mr Tebboune's rivals, Mr Cherif possibly has the better chance of finishing second because of his affiliation with political Islam.

“Competition is going to be mainly between Tebboune and Hassani [Cherif] as Islamist parties are known for their grass roots mobilisation capacity, they have people that adopt their ideas and who will certainly show up to cast their votes,” she said.

Reflecting a growing apathy towards politics among Algerians in recent years after the pro-democracy protests, known as the Hirak Movement, were suppressed, Ms Drid said that she was boycotting the presidential election.

“All three candidates do not represent me. Even Youcef Aouchiche, whom I find myself closer to in terms of thoughts. He is not a leadership figure and cannot become president in any way,” she said.

As Algeria continues to face challenges domestically, such as rising youth unemployment, and regionally, with security threats from unrest across its borders in Mali, Niger and Libya, many believe that a strong leadership must be maintained.

“Unfortunately, even though I disagree with him, Tebboune is the only one capable of leading us in the upcoming stage,” Ms Drid said.

“The opposition and all other personalities have not been able to organise themselves and come up with the needed solid plans for our future.”