Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Algerians abroad Kick Off Presidential Elections Voting


Sat 07 Dec 2019 | 03:48 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

This morning, Algerians abroad began casting their votes in the presidential elections, months after the fall of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika regime.

In France, the Algerian consulate in  Paris, witnessed an intense security deployment of French police to ensure the smooth running of the electoral process after a delay in opening polling stations. The Algerians vote abroad continues until Thursday, December 12th, when elections will start at home.

Yesterday, a TV debate, the first of its kind in the country's history, took place among the five presidential candidates who presented their programs during the debate.

Initially, journalists posed political questions related to the actions that led to the current crisis, while the candidates contented themselves with giving general answers during which they tried to show themselves close to the protest movement.

The brief debate framework - which gives each candidate only two minutes to answer - did not give way to respond to fruitful interactions from the audience.

Five candidates are competing in the elections, all of whom are former high-ranking officials. They are former PM Abdelmadjid Tebboune, former PM Ali Benflis, former culture minister Azzedine Mihoubi, former tourism minister Abdelkader Bengrina and former El Mostakbal movement leader Abdelaziz Belaid.

On their part, protesters have marched on 42 consecutive Fridays to demand that Algeria’s next presidential election not entrench an elite linked to Bouteflika. But the five candidates seeking to replace him all either supported the former leader or participated in his government, and all have been the target of protesters’ hostility.