فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
More than 24 million Algerians have been called to cast their votes on Saturday in the presidential elections, where incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is expected to win a second term without surprises. The main stake in this electoral event remains the voter turnout rate.
Polling stations opened at 7:00 AM GMT and will close at 6:00 PM GMT. The first voters have begun casting their ballots, with initial results expected Saturday evening and an official announcement no later than Sunday.
President Tebboune (78 years old) faces two lesser-known opponents: Abdelaali Hassani (57 years old), a civil engineer and leader of the Movement of Society for Peace, the main Islamist party, and Youcef Aouchiche (41 years old), a former journalist and senator who heads the Socialist Forces Front, the oldest opposition party based in the Kabylie region.
Experts consider Tebboune’s victory almost certain, especially with the support of four major parties for his candidacy, including the National Liberation Front and the El Bina Islamist movement. Hasni Abidi from the Cermam Study Center in Geneva points out that “the President is aiming for high participation, which is the primary challenge. He hasn’t forgotten that he was elected in 2019 with a low turnout rate.”
The three candidates have focused their speeches on social and economic issues, promising to improve purchasing power and revitalize the economy to make it less dependent on hydrocarbons. Tebboune has promised new increases in salaries and pensions, investments, two million new housing units, and 450,000 new jobs.
At the same time, Amnesty International has accused Algerian authorities of continuing to suppress civil liberties and restrict human rights, pointing to new arbitrary arrests and intolerance of dissenting opinions.
It’s worth noting that Algerians residing abroad, numbering 865,490 voters according to the electoral authority, have been voting since last Monday.
