Presidential election in Algeria 2019

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Announcement poster in March 2019 for the election date in April - this date has been postponed

The 2019 presidential election in Algeria took place on December 12th. The independent candidate Abdelmadjid Tebboune won it in the first ballot.

Originally it was supposed to take place on April 18th, then on July 4th. The President Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika ( FLN ), who has been in office since 1999 , initially announced his renewed candidacy on the planned election date in April, but withdrew it in March 2019 after massive protests and declared that he would no longer run. He resigned as President on April 2, 2019. The election was now scheduled for July 4th, but was postponed to an unknown time due to a lack of candidates. On September 15, 2019, Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah announced that the election would take place on December 12, 2019.

Procedure

The presidential election takes place every five years. If no candidate achieves an absolute majority , there is a runoff election of the two most successful candidates.

Done in the run-up to the election planned for April

President Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika, who has ruled since 1999, announced his candidacy in February 2019; It was submitted on March 3, 2019, the day after his 82nd birthday and also the last possible date. At the time, he was in Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland because of a stroke he suffered in 2013 . Because of his illness, the business of government is carried out by a group of politicians, senior military and intelligence officials, and business people known as le pouvoir ("the power"). After long and large protests, Bouteflika withdrew his candidacy.

Bouteflika's opponent in the 2004 and 2014 elections, Ali Benflis , and the moderate Islamic party HMS announced that they would boycott the election because of Bouteflika's re-candidacy. The candidate for the Front des Forces Socialistes (FFS) also declared that he no longer wanted to take part in the vote. Other candidates were refused candidacy on pretexts. One of the 18 registered opponents was the largely unknown Rachid Nekkaz, who was nominated in his place by his cousin of the same name, a businessman who was particularly popular among the youth in the context of the protests, who was born in France and was refused admission because he was in has not continuously resided in Algeria for the past ten years.

After Bouteflika's announcement in February, there were extensive protest demonstrations against his candidacy almost every day - according to correspondents, the largest in the country for ten years. It was mainly students who organized the protests. In the television program it was announced that in the event of his re-election, Bouteflika would not rule for the full term, but would rather initiate an early election. He will also have a new constitution drawn up and put to a vote. Nevertheless, the protests continued; At the beginning of March, according to diplomats, 700,000 to 800,000 people protested in the capital Algiers alone . The number of demonstrators continued to rise in the following days. In some cases there were violent clashes with numerous injured police officers and demonstrators; a wing of the National Museum in Algiers was set on fire.

On March 10, 2019 - the day of Bouteflika's return to Algeria - there was a general strike against his candidacy. Over 1000 judges said they would not be available to oversee the election if Bouteflika continued to run.

On March 11th, Bouteflika announced that he would not stand again; at the same time he postponed the election and thus extended his term of office. The legal basis for this is unclear; According to the constitution, his term of office ends in April 2019. Initially, a number of reform projects should be implemented, including the drafting of a new constitution, which a national conference should adopt by the end of 2019. That would mean Bouteflika would have remained in office until 2020. At the same time, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia was replaced by the previous Minister of the Interior, Noureddine Bedoui ; by his side is the newly created post of Deputy Prime Minister Ramatane Lamamra , previously Bouteflika's diplomatic advisor. On March 15, there were again mass protests in Algiers and Oran against the postponement of the election, which were peaceful, and also on the following days. On March 26, the army chief of staff, Gaïd Salah , spoke out for the first time that Bouteflikas should be dismissed under Article 102 of the constitution for health reasons. On April 2, Bouteflika resigned with immediate effect.

Happened after Bouteflika's resignation

On April 10, July 4, 2019 was announced as the new election date. At the same time, Gaïd Salah described the previously ruling elite as a "gang" and announced that the army would closely monitor the electoral process. Meanwhile, the mass protests against the power elite continued, especially on Fridays when large demonstrations regularly take place. On May 4, Said Bouteflika, the former president's influential youngest brother, and former intelligence chiefs Mohamed "Tewfik" Mediène and Athmane Tartag were arrested.

As of May 26, 2019, the deadline for declaring the candidacy for the July 4 elections, only two relatively unknown people were registered as candidates. According to observers, other possible applicants were holding back because they see the current rulers as members of the previous power elite. The Constitutional Council denied the two candidates and announced that the election could not take place on July 4th. Protests against the leadership under interim President Bensalah then continued.

Former Prime Ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal were arrested in mid-June . They were accused of corruption . On July 2, President Mouab Bouchareb , a former supporter of Bouteflika , resigned .

On July 25, the formation of a six-member body was announced to conduct national dialogue and prepare for the presidential election. It consists of the former Speaker of Parliament Karim Younes , two other politicians, two lawyers and an economist.

On September 15, 2019, interim President Abdelkader Bensalah announced in a televised address that the election should take place on December 12, 2019. Meanwhile, the protests that began in February 2019 continued.

Candidates for election in December

Of the original 147 people who had applied for documents to apply for the office of president for the election on December 12, 2019, 22 finally submitted a candidacy to the electoral commission . On November 2nd, the chairman of the electoral commission, Mohamed Chorfi, announced that five candidacies met the necessary criteria and were eligible for election:

All five candidates are close to the previous system. Oppositionists called for a boycott.

A week before the election, the ruling FLN party announced its support for Azzedine Mihoubi as a presidential candidate.

Result

The day after the election, the electoral authority announced that the former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune had already achieved the required absolute majority in the first ballot with 58 percent of the votes cast. This led to mass protests in some places in the country. The turnout was just under 40 percent.

candidate Political party be right %
Abdelmadjid Tebboune independently 4,945,116 58.15
Abdelkader Bengrina El Binaa 1,477,735 17.38
Ali Benflis Avant-Garde des Libertés 896.934 10.55
Azzedine Mihoubi RND / FLN 617.753 7.26
Abdelaziz Belaïd Front El Moustakbal 566,808 6.66
total 8,504,346 100
Invalid votes 1,243,458
Controversial voices 11,588
Source: Journal de Montreal

Done after the election

After the results were announced, the army sided with Tebboune. The Constitutional Court declared the election on December 16 to be legal.

The Friday protests continued. President Tebboune declared the first anniversary of the protests, February 22, 2020, a public holiday.

See also

Web links

Commons : Algeria Presidential Election 2019  - Pictures, Videos and Audio Files Collection

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ orf.at: Presidential election in Algeria on July 4th . Article dated April 10, 2019, accessed April 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b President Bouteflika gives up. In sueddeutsche.de on March 11, 2019, accessed on March 11, 2019
  3. ↑ FAZ.net
  4. ↑ a b c d Opposition in Algeria boycotted elections. Spiegel Online from March 3, 2019, accessed on March 4, 2019
  5. ↑ https://www.srf.ch/news/international/klage-in-genf-kesb-soll-sich-um-bouteflika-kuemmern
  6. ↑ Le FFS ne participe pas à l'élection présidentielle 2019. algerie-medinfo.com (French), accessed on March 4, 2019
  7. ↑ Raniah Salloum, Zahra Rahmouni: The Mummy and the People. In: Der Spiegel 11/2019, pp. 76–78.
  8. ^ Christoph Sydow: Protest against Abdelaziz Bouteflika: Algeria is rehearsing the uprising. Spiegel Online from March 4, 2019, accessed on March 4, 2019
  9. ↑ a b Paul-Anton Krüger: Bouteflika returns. sueddeutsche.de of March 10, 2019, accessed on March 11, 2019
  10. ↑ Algerian authorities: 112 police officers injured, 195 arrests. wr.de on March 9, 2019, accessed on March 11, 2019
  11. ^ Dpa: Strike in Algeria against long-term President Bouteflika. zeit.de of March 10, 2019, accessed on March 10, 2019
  12. ↑ SZ.de/Reuters/AP/dpa/saul/bepe: More than 1000 judges oppose Bouteflika. sueddeutsche.de of March 11, 2019, accessed on March 11, 2019
  13. ↑ a b Algeria to Abdelaziz Bouteflika: Now the fight for the future begins. Spiegel Online from March 12, 2019, accessed on March 12, 2019
  14. ↑ Algeria's President Bouteflika finally goes underground. nzz.ch of March 11, 2019, accessed on March 12, 2019
  15. ↑ Algeria's President Bouteflika is not running again. Der Standard , March 11, 2019, accessed on the same day.
  16. ↑ Jens Borchers: Transitional government instead of elections. tagesschau.de from March 15, 2019, accessed on March 15, 2019
  17. ↑ Next mass protests against Bouteflika. deutschlandfunk.de from March 15, 2019, accessed on March 15, 2019
  18. ^ Protests in Algeria against Bouteflika: the military wants to remove the president. taz.de from March 26, 2019, accessed on March 26, 2019
  19. ^ President Bouteflika resigns. sueddeutsche.de from April 2, 2019, accessed on April 2, 2019
  20. ↑ dpa, Reuters: Army calls for prosecution of the elite. faz.net April 10, 2019, accessed April 10, 2019
  21. ↑ Algerian police arrest brother of ex-leader, 2 others. afriicanews.com, May 5, 2019, accessed May 5, 2019
  22. ↑ Algeria: Uncertainty surrounds July 4 elections. africanews.com, May 28, 2019, accessed May 28, 2019
  23. ^ Constitutional Council postpones presidential election. Zeit Online from June 3, 2019, accessed June 3, 2019
  24. ↑ Ryad Kramdi / AFP: protests over presidential election shifted. deutschlandfunk.de from June 8, 2019, accessed on June 10, 2019
  25. ^ APA: Algeria's ex-Prime Minister Sellal also arrested. derstandard.de from June 13, 2019, accessed on June 19, 2019
  26. ^ Algeria's parliament president resigns: the morning call. africanews.com, July 3, 2019, accessed July 3, 2019
  27. ↑ Algeria names panel to oversee national dialogue and hold elections. africanews.com, July 26, 2019, accessed July 26, 2019
  28. ↑ Algeria: "Throw the generals on the trash". sueddeutsche.de of November 7, 2019, accessed on November 15, 2019
  29. ↑ Présidentielle du 12 décembre: 22 postulants déposent leurs dossiers de candidature à l'ANIE Algérie1 of October 27, 2019, accessed on November 12, 2019
  30. ↑ Présidentielles du 12 décembre: 5 candidats retenus par l'ANIE Huffpost Maghreb of November 2, 2019, accessed on November 12, 2019
  31. ^ Sofian Philip Naceur: Protests, beatings, filled urns. taz.de from December 12, 2019, accessed on December 13, 2019
  32. ↑ Algérie: Le FLN apporte son soutien à Azzedine Mihoubi DzairDaily of December 5, 2019, accessed on December 13, 2019
  33. ↑ n-tv NEWS: Ex-Prime Minister becomes President of Algeria. Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Mohamed CHAFAI: Abdelmadjid Tebboune elected president of the Republic with 58.15% of votes ( en-gb ) Accessed on December 13, 2019.
  35. ^ Army promises to support the newly elected president. deutschlandfunk.de from December 15, 2019, accessed on December 17, 2019
  36. ↑ Algeria's top court affirms election of president-elect Abdelkader Tebboune. africanews.com, December 16, 2019, accessed December 19, 2019
  37. ↑ Algeria: president hails Hirak protesters ahead of anniversary. africanews.com on February 21, 2020, accessed on February 21, 2020