Voting under way in Algeria’s presidential election

Algerians are voting in a presidential election in which incumbent Abdelmadjid Tebboune is expected to easily win a second term.

Polling stations opened at 8am (07:00 GMT) on Saturday in the North African country which has more than 24 million registered voters. More than 800,000 Algerians abroad, many in France, began voting on September 2.

Tebboune, 78, whose government is accused of using new laws to stifle dissent, is heavily favoured to defeat his two challengers – Abdelaali Hassani Cherif, 57 and Youcef Aouchiche, 41.

While 15 candidates tried to enter the race, only Hassani Cherif and Aouchiche gathered enough signatures to qualify. Neither seriously opposes the military establishment widely seen as having called the shots since the 1960s.

Campaign rallies for the election, which Tebboune’s office moved up from its originally planned date in December, have struggled to generate enthusiasm, partly due to the summer heat.

Political commentator Mohamed Hennad said the election’s outcome is a foregone conclusion due to the campaign’s restrictive conditions.

Eyeing turnout

Tebboune’s main challenge is to boost turnout, which was less than 40 percent when he won his first term in 2019.

Turnout was even lower in the country’s 2021 legislative elections, at about 30 percent.

“The president is keen to have a significant turnout,” said Hasni Abidi, an analyst at the Geneva-based CERMAM study centre. “It’s his main issue,” he told the AFP news agency.

The low turnout figures in 2019 and 2021 came amid the Hirak pro-democracy protests that toppled Tebboune’s predecessor, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, before they were quashed with ramped-up policing and the jailing of hundreds.

What are the issues?

With young people making up more than half of Algeria’s population of 45 million, all candidates are targeting their vote with promises to improve living standards and reduce dependence on hydrocarbons.

Tebboune has touted his economic successes from his first term, including more jobs and higher wages in the country, Africa’s largest exporter of natural gas.

With a second term, Tebboune is expected to keep policies aimed at strengthening the country’s energy exports and enacting limited pro-business reforms while upholding lavish subsidies and keeping a tight rein on internal dissent.

“Previously investors had no confidence to invest in Algeria, but that’s beginning to change as our laws are amended and our image changes,” economist Boubaker Sellami told Al Jazeera.

Tebboune’s two challengers have promised to grant Algerians more freedoms.

Aouchiche says he is committed “to release prisoners of conscience through an amnesty and to review unjust laws”, including on media and terrorism.

Hassani Cherif has advocated for “freedoms that have been reduced to nothing in recent years”.

Preliminary results could be made public as early as Saturday night, with the electoral authority, ANIE, set to announce the official results on Sunday at the latest.