Algeria's President Tebboune wins second term with 95% of vote

Algerian President Tebboune wins election amid allegations of irregularities, low voter turnout, and economic challenges.

Algerian authorities declared President Abdulmadjid Tebboune the overwhelming winner of Saturday's election on Sunday (September 8, 2024(), but a rival candidate alleged irregularities in the count and fewer than half of registered voters cast ballots.

Official preliminary results gave Tebboune 95% of the vote, enough to avoid a second round run-off, with Abdelaali Hassani Cherif getting 3% and Youcef Aouchiche 2%. Turnout was 48%.

Tebboune, backed by the military, was facing only nominal opposition from Hassani Cherif, a moderate Islamist, and Aouchiche, a moderate secularist, both running with the blessing of Algeria's powerful establishment.

Hassani Cherif's campaign said polling station officials had been pressured to inflate results and alleged failures to deliver vote-sorting records to candidates' representatives, as well as instances of proxy group voting.

It did not say whether it believed the violations had affected the result and Reuters could not immediately reach Tebboune's or Aouchiche's campaign for comment.

However, electoral commission head Mohammed Charfi said when announcing the results that the body had worked to ensure transparency and fair competition among all candidates.

Tebboune's re-election means Algeria will likely keep on with a governing programme that has resumed lavish social spending based on increased energy revenues after he came into office in 2019 following a period of lower oil prices.