On Saturday, the turnout was very timid at the opening of the polls. At the end of the day, the closing of the polling stations was delayed by an hour at the request of “certain coordinators”.
Voters showed little turnout during the presidential election in Algeria on Saturday, September 7, with participation being less than 50%, while turnout was the main issue in this election in which the outgoing president Abdelmadjid Tebboune should emerge victorious.
Three hours behind schedule for his press briefing, the president of the electoral authority Anie, Mohamed Charfi, announced “an average participation rate of 48.03% at 8:00 p.m.” (19:00 GMT), without specifying the number of voters compared to the more than 24 million registered. This is “of a preliminary figure”he said. The results of the vote are expected on Sunday.
Polling station closures delayed
In December 2019, Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected with 58% of the vote but with a turnout of only 39.83% (60% abstention), in a context marked by the hostility of the pro-democracy demonstrators of Hirak and calls for a boycott of political parties.
On Saturday, the turnout was very timid when the polls opened at 8 a.m. (7 a.m. GMT) and television images showed only a few offices with long queues. At the end of the day, the Anie delayed the closing by one hour, at the request of “some coordinators” you vote
Abdelmadjid Tebboune big favorite
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, head of the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS, the oldest opposition party).
Abdelmadjid Tebboune is the big favourite, benefiting from the support of four major parties including the National Liberation Front (FLN, former single party).
“Mediocre campaign”
Hasni Abidi of the Cermam Study Center in Geneva explained the low turnout by “a mediocre campaign” with two competitors who “were not up to par” and a president who “hosted barely four meetings”. For voters, “What’s the point of voting if all the predictions were in favor of the president?”adds the expert.
Around 24.5 million voters, a third of whom were under 40, out of 45 million inhabitants, were called to vote.
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