Abdelmadjid Tebboune was re-elected on Sunday with more than 94% of the vote. Despite doubts about the actual turnout in the vote, the Algerian president is getting back to work for five years, with economic promises to keep.
In Algeria, unsurprisingly, Abdelmadjid Tebboune won a second term with an extremely high score. Officially, the outgoing president received nearly 94.65% of the vote. A little over 24 million voters were called to the polls on Saturday. The results were announced on Sunday evening by the president of the National Independent Election Authority.
Facing the outgoing president, there were only two candidates: Youcef Aouchiche, head of the Front of Socialist Forces, the oldest Algerian opposition party, and Abdelaali Hassani, head of the Movement of Society for Peace, the main Islamist party. It should be noted that there is never a second round for a presidential election in Algeria.
Doubts about actual participation
The only unknown in this election, ultimately, was the turnout. The government hoped it would be high because in 2019, 60% of voters did not vote. It was then the highest abstention rate in the country’s history for a presidential election.
For this election, the participation rate is 48%, according to the authorities, who specify that 5.6 million Algerians turned out. Except that, if we do the calculation, 5.6 million voters out of a total of 24 million registered, this gives a participation rate of approximately 23%.
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In an unprecedented move, the campaign teams of the three candidates, including that of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, denounce irregularities and contradictions in the figures announced. A little earlier, opponent Abdelali Hassani mentioned “pressure on certain polling station officials to inflate the results.”
Tebboune’s promises
Comfortably re-elected, Abdelmajjid Tebboune had asked for five more years to complete projects that they believe were hampered by the pandemic and the corruption of his predecessor, of whom he was a minister.
He pledges to double civil servant salaries and nearly double GDP to $400 billion. He also promises to build two million homes, bring inflation below 4% and ensure self-sufficiency in wheat, barley and corn.
But the biggest challenge remains the diversification of the country’s economy. Algeria is still largely dependent on its hydrocarbons and in particular its gas, which makes it a major European partner.
The subject of relations with France
Another important issue for the re-elected president: relations with France. On the diplomatic front first, we know that relations have been extremely tense since this summer and Emmanuel Macron’s recognition of the Moroccan plan for Western Sahara. The French president sent his “warmest congratulations” to his Algerian counterpart on Sunday evening.
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On the economic front, some still fear consequences. We remember that Algiers had drastically reduced its trade with Spain after its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty on the subject. And then there is also the gas issue. Algeria supplied nearly 12% of France’s natural gas imports in 2023.
Trade between the two countries reached 11.8 billion euros last year, a record level.
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