There was no suspense. At the end of a monotonous election campaign, the incumbent president Abdelmadjid Tebboune was re-elected in the first round with a landslide score: 94.65% of the vote.
The only issue at stake in this election was not who would emerge victorious, but rather the turnout of the 24 million voters in order to gauge the popularity of the occupant of the El-Mouradia Palace after five years in power. Poorly elected and criticized during his election in 2019 (six out of ten Algerians boycotted the polls in a context marked by the “Hirak” demonstrations, a popular protest movement that led to the resignation of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika), Abdelmadjid Tebboune also failed to mobilize the population during the 2020 constitutional referendum, for which only 23% of the electorate turned out. This time again, the turnout was low: 48.03%, announced the electoral authority after the polls closed at 8 p.m.
For three weeks, the 78-year-old presidential candidate, who benefited from considerable financial resources for his campaign, boasted about the results of his first term, particularly on the economic front. He promised the 24 million voters to build two million homes and create 450,000 jobs over the next five years. He also promised that his country would reach a GDP of $400 billion per year by 2027. “In the land of riches, gasoil and youth, we do not starve the people”he declared in particular during his last major meeting in Algiers, on September 3. Abdelmadjid Tebboune felt that he needed an additional mandate to complete projects hampered by Covid-19 and the corruption of President Bouteflika, of whom he was nevertheless the minister.
Making people forget the last two elections
These campaign promises were nevertheless only a formality as Abdelmadjid Tebboune was assured of emerging victorious from this election. His two potential rivals were considered by observers as extras, hand-picked by the electoral commission so as not to overshadow the head of state. The latter also benefited from the support of four leading political parties, the National Liberation Front (FLN, former single party). “President Tebboune was keen to campaign, by organising meetings in the country but also abroad. He is keen on an acceptable turnout to make people forget the last two elections. This indicator is also an important element for the powerful military institution, with which the head of state has managed to establish a relationship of trust.”explains Hasni Abidi, director of the Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World, based in Geneva.
At the end of July, the electoral authority rejected thirteen candidates for the supreme magistracy, due to a lack of sponsorship. The opposition, for its part, denounced the conditions “difficult” et “discriminatory” to stand for election. “Out of the 40 days we had to gather enough support, the internet was cut off for a week because of university exams. Technically, it was almost impossible to get enough sponsorships in such a short time, especially in the middle of summer, when people have other concerns than politics.”deplores Zoubida Assoul, lawyer and major figure of the Hirak, whose candidacy was rejected.
The Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), one of the main opposition forces, which has opted for a boycott, described the election as“the most closed presidential election in the multiparty era” in a context where “The repression continues and the blanket of silence over the media is unprecedented.” The NGO Amnesty International accused the Algerian authorities this week of continuing to “stifling civic space by maintaining harsh repression of human rights”with new arbitrary arrests and “a zero tolerance approach” with regard to dissenting opinions.
