Algeria: A Presidential Election That Puts the Regime in Difficulty
The Algerians Have Given Their Answer
Saturday, September 7, is the day of a meticulously prepared presidential election. From the chosen date to the candidates’ profiles and deciding the results in advance, the decision-makers in the shadows, as they are called in Algeria, have prepared everything. The election will proceed as hoped.
By Hichem ABOUD
The only unknown is the participation of Algerians in this election, which depends on the electorate’s adherence to the scenario in which they were given the role of the main extra.
24,351,551 voters are called to the polls. Three candidates are in the running. The outgoing president Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is seeking a second term, is running as an independent. That is, without party affiliation. His party is the hidden power of the generals. He is supported by political formations experienced in supporting the army’s candidate. The FLN, the RND, the former heavyweights of the Algerian political scene, along with three microscopic parties with no influence.
The “independent” candidate faces two lightweight competitors: MPS President Abdelali Hassani Cherif, an unknown representing the Islamist fringe, and FFS First Secretary Youcef Aouchiche, tasked with breaking the Kabyle boycott as a son of the region. The election takes place in nearly 63,000 polling stations and will be supervised by 500,000 supervisors.
The scene is set early in the morning. The cue is given at 8 a.m. with the opening of the polling stations. In Algiers, the capital, people are still asleep. Images taken at 9:45 a.m. from Didouche Mourad Street, Audin Square, and Abdelkrim El-Khettabi Street show the main arteries of the city deserted.
Further away, in Medea, in the Titteri, in Teleghma and Jijel in the East, and in Laghouat 400 km south of Algiers, there are crowds in front of the polling stations. In Teleghma, images from Algerian TV channels show real scuffles in front of a voting center.
From inquiries with local populations and by watching TV images, it is noted that this crowd consists solely of young people, among whom there is not a single woman or man over thirty. They all have military-style shaved heads and none carry a mobile phone.
In Teleghma, it is the students from the armored school and the accompanying staff who have crowded at the entrance of the polling center, as seen in video 1.
In Medea, it is the soldiers from the barracks, which houses the sector command and the city’s garrison, dressed in civilian clothes who will fill the polling center. (See video 2)
In Jijel, it is the sailors from the naval base who are acting as voters. Just like in Laghouat, where residents of the city’s airbase were called upon.
These soldiers, not being registered on the electoral lists of the cities where they were called to vote, and lacking voter cards, will be allowed to vote with just an ID. This is a massive violation of electoral law. However, the Independent National Authority for Elections (ANIE) will solve the problem quickly by issuing a statement at 10:30 a.m. indicating, “Voters who do not have a voting card can vote by presenting an ID (national ID card, driver’s license, or passport).”
It is necessary, come what may, to achieve a participation rate higher than that recorded in 2019, which was around 39.88%. The goal seems difficult to reach. “Algerians have massively deserted the polls. The ANIE (state electoral management agency) reports 13.11% participation nationwide at 1 p.m. As Algerians vote mostly in the morning, it is difficult, if not impossible, for this agency to announce a participation rate close to 20% by 8 p.m.,” says Athmane Maazouz, President of the RCD, one of the main opposition parties that has managed to maintain its credibility.
“It seems that a silent directive has spread throughout the country,” adds Me Nabila Smaïl, lawyer for the “Hirak” activists. This is confirmed at 5 p.m. when it is announced that the participation rate was 26.46%. With three hours left before the polling stations close, it is almost impossible to gain 15%, the minimum required to surpass the 2019 figure, unless the fraud machine gets into action.
