Algeria’s President Tebboune secures second term with 94 pct vote amid low turnout

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been named the winner of Algeria’s presidential election , granting him another term leading the gas-rich North African nation five years after pro-democracy protests led to the ouster of his predecessor.

In a result that surprised few observers internationally or in Algeria, the country’s independent election authority on Sunday announced that Tebboune had won 94 percent of the vote, far outpacing his challengers Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who won 3 percent and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who won 2.1 percent.

Election officials reported less than six million of the country’s 24 million voters had turned out to vote on Saturday, perpetuating the low voter turnout rates that marred Tebboune’s first term and raised questions about his popular support.

Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it’s the continent’s second most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 – a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population.

Throughout the campaign, activists and international organizations, including Amnesty International, railed against the campaign season’s repressive atmosphere and the harassment and prosecutions of those involved in opposition parties, media organizations and civil society groups. Some denounced this election as a rubber stamp exercise that can only entrench the status quo.

But Tebboune and his two challengers each urged political participation and specifically made overtures to the Algerian youth, who make up a majority of the population and disproportionately suffer from poverty and unemployment.

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 percent, far below the levels of previous national 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-19 pandemic.