Ex-PM Tebboune elected Algeria's president

Reuters

December 14, 2019

Former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been elected Algeria's new president after a vote the authorities hope will end months of turmoil but demonstrators who toppled his predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika have vowed their movement will not stop.

Tebboune, who served as housing minister under Bouteflika and briefly as premier before falling out with tycoons in the ex-leader's entourage, was announced on Friday as the winner of 52 per cent of the vote, making a second round unnecessary.

Authorities said 40 per cent of voters had taken part in Thursday's election, which state media cast as a high enough turnout to vindicate the decision to hold the poll in spite of a boycott.

But protesters saw the contest between five officially sanctioned candidates as an illegitimate sham intended to keep the old ruling elite in place.

Thousands of demonstrators were expected to take to the streets to protest against the result.

The authorities, including the powerful army, argue that the only way to move the country forward after demonstrators brought an end to Bouteflika's 20-year-rule in April is to elect a successor.

Weekly protests that toppled Bouteflika have not stopped, with demonstrators demanding the entire ruling elite cede power to a new generation, despite no obvious leader emerging to represent them. The protesters refer to themselves simply as "Hirak", or "the movement".

Tebboune's rivals included another former premier, two former ministers and a former member of the ruling party's central committee.

Protesters marched in cities and towns across Algeria throughout Thursday's election, in some places clashing with police, who tried to disperse them with baton charges.

Late on Thursday, the election body said nine million Algerians took part in the election.