A former ally of deposed Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected president of the protest-wracked country in a widely boycotted vote, on Friday sparking another outpouring of anger on the streets.
Huge crowds massed once again in Algiers vowing to keep up their campaign for the total dismantling of the political establishment, following former Algerian prime minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s victory in Thursday’s poll.
“The vote is rigged. Your elections are of no concern to us and your president will not govern us,” demonstrators chanted after polls marred by unrest and a low turnout.
Photo: AFP
“Tebboune is worse than Bouteflika. He’s known for being one of the thieves,” said Meriem, a 31-year-old civil servant. “We did not vote and we will not back down.”
Yet, Tebboune struck a conciliatory tone toward the protest movement.
“I extend my hand to the Hirak for a dialogue to build a new Algeria,” he told his first news conference following the poll.
The 74-year-old took just more than 58 percent of the vote, trouncing his four fellow contenders without the need for a runoff, said Mohamed Charfi, chairman of Algeria’s electoral commission.
All five candidates served under the two-decade rule of Bouteflika, 82, who resigned in the face of mass demonstrations in April.
The deeply unpopular election had been championed by the army as a way of restoring stability after almost 10 months of street protests.
The candidates — who included another former Algerian prime minister, Ali Benflis, 75, and former Algerian minister of culture Azzedine Mihoubi — were widely rejected by protesters as “children of the regime.”
A record six in 10 Algerians abstained in the vote, Charfi said — the lowest turnout for a multiparty election since independence from France in 1962.
Tens of thousands rallied on election day in central Algiers, where police with water cannons and helicopters tried to disperse them.
On Friday, protesters took to the streets again in response to calls on social media under the slogan “Tebboune is not my president.”
Said, a 32 year-old engineer from Bouira, said that he had made the 100km journey to the capital to take part in the demonstrations.
“I spent the night here so I could demonstrate again ... and say we don’t recognize their election or their president,” he said.
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