In December 2019, abstention broke records (60%) during the first election won by Mr. Tebboune with 58% of the vote, while massive pro-democracy demonstrations were in full swing and many parties boycotted the vote.
Three candidates including President Tebboune
In an office in central Algiers, women swelled the ranks of initially mostly male voters in the afternoon, such as Sidali Mahmoudi, a 65-year-old trader who came “early to do his duty in complete safety “. democracy”. Taous Zaiedi, a 66-year-old pensioner, and Leila Belgaremi, a 42-year-old accountant, voted “for the country to improve”.
In front of Mr. Tebboune, two little-known candidates: Abdelaali Hassani, a 57-year-old engineer, head of the Society for Peace Movement (MSP, the main Islamist party), and Youcef Aouchiche, 41, a former journalist and senator, head of the Front Socialist Forces (FFS, the oldest opposition party).
A re-election of Mr Tebboune, 78, is all the more expected as four major parties support him, including the National Liberation Front (FLN, formerly the single party). “The winner is known in advance”, given the “small number” of competitors and their low notoriety, analyzes political scientist Mohamed Hennad.
But Mr. Tebboune wants “significant participation. He wants to be a normal president, not a badly elected president,” emphasizes Hasni Abidi from the Center for Cermam Studies in Geneva.
24 million voters
More than 24 million voters out of 45 million inhabitants are summoned. Public buses, metro and tram are free to make travel easier. Of the 865,490 overseas-based voters who voted since Monday, turnout was 18.31 percent as of 16:00 GMT, according to Anie.
After his vote, Mr Hassani called on Algerians to go to the polls because “a high turnout gives more credibility to these elections”.
Mr Aouchiche also called on “Algerians to participate in force” to get “definitely out of the boycott and despair” after an election campaign that had sparked little enthusiasm.
Economy and oil
Without mentioning the crowds, Mr. Tebboune hoped that “the winner of the presidential election will continue his project, decisive for Algeria to reach a point of no return in economic development and the construction of a democracy.”
The three candidates all say they want to improve purchasing power and overhaul the economy so that it is less dependent on hydrocarbons (95% of foreign exchange earnings).
Aided by a windfall from Algeria's African exporter of natural gas, Mr Tebboune promised to boost wages and pensions, investment, two million new homes and 450,000 new jobs to make Algeria “the second largest economy in Africa”, after the South. Africa.
“Severe repression”
At the end of the campaign on Tuesday, the one that netizens affectionately nicknamed “aammi Tebboune” (Tonton Tebboune) pledged to give young people – more than half of the inhabitants and a third of the voters – “the place that suits them”. Mr Tebboune claims his first five-year term was hampered by Covid-19 and the corruption of his predecessor, whose minister he was.
Its competitors promise more freedoms. The FFS candidate pledges to “release prisoners of conscience through an amnesty and review unjust laws” on terrorism or the media. That of the MSP advocates “respect for freedoms reduced to nothing”.