Voters turned out poorly for Algeria’s presidential election on Saturday, with turnout below 50%. Turnout was the main issue in the election, which is expected to see incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune emerge victorious.
Three hours behind schedule for his press briefing, the president of the electoral authority ANIE announced “an average turnout of 48.03% at 8 p.m.” (9 p.m. Swiss time), without specifying the number of voters compared to the more than 24 million registered voters. This is “a preliminary number,” he said. The results of the vote are expected on Sunday.
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39.8% in 2019
In December 2019, Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected with 58% of the vote, but with a turnout of only 39.83%, in a context marked by the hostility of pro-democracy protesters from Hirak and calls for a boycott of political parties.
On Saturday, the turnout was very timid when the polls opened at 8am and television images showed only a few offices with long queues. At the end of the day, the ANIE delayed the closing by an hour, at the request of “certain coordinators” of the vote.
Facing the outgoing president, two candidates were in the running: Abdelaali Hassani, a 57-year-old engineer, head of the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP, the main Islamist party) and Youcef Aouchiche, 41, a former journalist and senator, at the head of the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS, the oldest opposition party). Abdelmadjid Tebboune is the clear favorite, benefiting from the support of four major parties including the National Liberation Front (FLN, the former single party).
