Algeria: Tebboune Wins 2nd Term in Landslide Victory

By Staff, Agencies

Algerian authorities declared President Abdulmadjid Tebboune the clear winner of Saturday’s election giving him a second five-year term in office.

Supported by the military, Tebboune faced only nominal opposition from Hassani Cherif, a moderate conservative, and Aouchiche, a moderate secularist, both backed by Algeria’s powerful establishment.

Hassani Cherif’s campaign claimed that polling officials were pressured to inflate results and that there were failures to provide vote-sorting records to candidates' representatives, along with instances of proxy group voting.

“This is a farce,” said Hassani Cherif’s spokesperson, Ahmed Sadok, asserting that the candidate had won significantly more votes than announced, citing the campaign’s own tallies from various regions. The claim could not be verified.

However, electoral commission head Mohammed Charfi stated during the results announcement that the commission had ensured transparency and fair competition amongst all candidates.

Tebboune's re-election signals that Algeria will likely continue its current governing program, which has resumed generous social spending fuelled by increased energy revenues after he took office in 2019 during a period of lower oil prices.

He has pledged to raise unemployment benefits, pensions, and public housing programs, all of which he expanded during his first term.