Algeria declares President Tebboune election winner with 95% of vote
Electoral commission says Tebboune wins 95% of vote
Rival candidate alleges irregularities
Tebboune pledged to raise social benefits in second term
Adds Hassani Cherif spokesperson saying candidate won more votes than were announced in paragraph 5
By Lamine Chikhi
ALGIERS, Sept 8 (Reuters) -Algerian authorities declared President Abdulmadjid Tebboune the overwhelming winner of Saturday's election on Sunday, but a rival candidate alleged irregularities in the count and fewer than half of registered voters cast ballots.
Official preliminary results gave Tebboune 95% of the vote, enough to avoid a second round run-off, with Abdelaali Hassani Cherif getting 3% and Youcef Aouchiche 2%. Turnout was 48%.
Tebboune, backed by the military, was facing only nominal opposition from Hassani Cherif, a moderate Islamist, and Aouchiche, a moderate secularist, both running with the blessing of Algeria's powerful establishment.
Hassani Cherif's campaign said polling station officials had been pressured to inflate results and alleged failures to deliver vote-sorting records to candidates' representatives, as well as instances of proxy group voting.
"This is a farce," said Hassani Cherif's spokesperson Ahmed Sadok, adding that the candidate had won far more votes than had been announced, citing the campaign's own tallies from regions.Reuters could not immediately verify those tallies or reach Tebboune's or Aouchiche's campaign for comment.
However, electoral commission head Mohammed Charfi said when announcing the results that the body had worked to ensure transparency and fair competition among all candidates.
Tebboune's re-election means Algeria will likely keep on with a governing programme that has resumed lavish social spending based on increased energy revenues after he came into office in 2019 following a period of lower oil prices.
He has promised to raise unemployment benefits, pensions and public housing programmes, all of which he increased during his first term as president.
"As long as Tebboune continues to raise wages and pensions and maintain subsidies he will be the best in my eyes," said Ali, a cafe customer in the Ouled Fayet district of Algiers, asking not to write his family name.
First elected during the mass "hirak" (movement) protests that forced his veteran predecessor Abdulaziz Bouteflika from power after 20 years, Tebboune has backed a tough approach from the security forces, which have jailed prominent dissidents.
His election in 2019 reflected the anti-establishment mood in Algeria that year, with turnout of 40%, far below previous votes.
The protests, which brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets every week for more than a year demanding an end to corruption and the ousting of the ruling elite, were finally curtailed by the COVID pandemic.
"Turnout is very low. It shows that the vast majority is like me," said another Ouled Fayet resident, Slimane, 24, who also asked not to give his family name. He did not vote because he does not trust politicians, he said.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 boosted European demand for Algerian gas and pushed energy prices back up, increasing Algerian state revenue after years of burning through foreign exchange reserves and leading to new hydrocarbons projects.
While using much of the money for social handouts, Tebboune's government has also pushed economic reforms aimed at strengthening the private sector to create jobs.
However, while unemployment is down from its highs of around 14% during the pandemic, it remained above 12% last year and inflation is also high.
The economic difficulties faced by ordinary Algerians may have contributed to the low turnout on Saturday.
"Turnout at 48% versus 40% in 2019 clearly shows that the gap between rulers and the people is still to be filled," said political analyst Farid Ferrari.
In foreign policy, Tebboune's record is patchy.
Despite Algeria's key role in Europe as a gas provider, arch regional rival Morocco has succeeded in winning over Spanish and French acceptance of its sovereignty over Western Sahara, where Algiers backs the Polisario separatists. Morocco has won over some African and Arab states too.
Meanwhile, Algeria's push for membership of the BRICS group when it expanded in January was thwarted, with the bloc instead inviting Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates to join. Algeria instead joined the BRICS development bank last month.
Its efforts to bring greater stability in Africa's Sahel region also ran adrift, with an attempt to mediate between rival forces in Niger following a coup last year failing to deliver progress.
However, Algeria remains a major military power in the region and seems unlikely to shift from its traditional stance balancing ties between Western powers and Russia.
Reporting by Lamine Chikhi in Algiers, additional reporting by Adam Makary and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Andrew Cawthorne
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
