The beginning of early presidential elections in Algeria.
According to Al Jazeera, 24 million Algerians went to the polls this morning, Saturday, September 7th, to participate in the presidential elections in which three candidates from different political factions are competing.
This election will be held under the full supervision of the Independent National Election Committee that was established in 2019. This committee replaced the public institutions of the government to guarantee the transparency of the electoral processes in line with the reforms.
The official slogan of this election is “Participate in establishing the path of electoral democracy” and its purpose is to encourage people to participate widely in voting.
It should be noted that on March 21, Algerian President Abdel Majid Taboun decided to hold early presidential elections ahead of the scheduled date for next December and stated that the reason was purely technical.
The polls will open at 8:00 AM local time (7:00 AM GMT) and will remain open until 8:00 PM.
24 million 351 thousand 551 people can vote in this election and choose one of three candidates from different political spectrums.
The current president, Tebboune, who is 78 years old, entered the race as an “independent candidate” and sees himself as representing all Algerians, especially the youth, the middle class, and the poor. He belongs to the movement of nationalism.
Abdul Ali Hassani Sharif (58 years old), his rival, is the head of the Peace Society Movement, the largest opposition Islamic party in the country. Sharif, a civil engineer, was elected as the head of the party in 2023 and has chosen the slogan “opportunity” for his election campaign.
Yusuf Osish (42 years old) is the first secretary of the Socialist Forces Front Party, known as the country’s oldest political opposition party. This party was founded in 1963 and is known as a leftist school of opposition to power during the last six decades.