Five years after assuming office as the military and establishment-backed candidate amid mass pro-democracy demonstrations, Algeria’s president declared on Thursday that he plans to run for a second term. Declared in an interview to be aired on Algerian television, the 78-year-old political veteran Abdelmadjid Tebboune said his decision was in reaction to backing from political parties and youth.
Praising his achievements as well as the gas-rich North African nation’s security and stability, he said, “If the Algerian people want to vote for me, that’s fine, otherwise I’ll have accomplished my mission and whoever succeeds me will be welcomed.”
Tebboune had refrained from stating his plans even nearly four months ago, after the Sept. 7 election date was decided. Political analyst Rachid Grime notes that despite his demurrences, his ambitions were “an open secret” and his candidacy resulted from conversations among the political elite.
Apart from Tebboune, 34 candidates have revealed their strategies for running in the election. Only three so far have gathered the required signatures to show on the ballot: Sadia Naghzi of the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises; Abdellah Hassan Cherif of the Islamist party Movement for Society and Peace; and Youcef Aouchiche of the Socialist Forces Front, Algeria’s biggest opposition party. Candidates have until July 18 to gather signatures.
Re-election for a second term by Tebboune would solidify the authority of Algeria’s political and military elite and help to further isolate the nation from the goals expressed by its “Hirak” movement, which organizes weekly street demonstrations pressuring the sick octogenarian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to resign in April 2019 following two decades in office.
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Former prime minister under Bouteflika Tebboune won an election with a meager turnout in 2019. Boycotted it and denounced it as a hurried affair meant to uphold the hold on power over the 45 million-person country by the old government.
Widespread demonstrations and demands for major political transformation defined Algeria’s 2019 election as a turning point in its recent past. Since then, Tebboune’s administration has been marked by attempts to stabilize the nation and uphold its security, while detractors contend that the basic problems brought up by the Hirak movement go unresolved.
His choice to seek a second term emphasizes the continuous conflict between Algerian opposition forces and the establishment. While Tebboune stresses consistency and continuity, opposition leaders and many people still demand more radical changes and a departure from the long-dominant established power systems in Algeria.
Algeria’s political scene stays quite tense as the election draws near. The next months will be crucial in deciding the future course of the nation and whether the goals of the Hirak movement will find a new road ahead or if the status quo will rule.
