Algerians vote for next president

2009-04-09

On Thursday morning, Algerians headed to polling stations to elect the future President of the Republic. More than 20 million voters are expected to choose between the six candidates running for the highest office in the country.

By Hayam El Hadi for Magharebia in Algiers - - 9/04/09

[Said Jameh] Voting in the Algerian Presidential Election commenced on Thursday.

More than 47,000 Algerian polling stations opened at 8 am Thursday (April 9th) under tight police surveillance. Some 20 million voters have until 7 pm to decide whether incumbent president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Moussa Touati, Louisa Hanoune, Ali Faouizi Rebaine, Mohamed Djahid Younsi or Mohamed Said will lead the country for the next five years.

The latest numbers indicate a domestic voter turnout of 30%, Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni announced at 2 pm. Polling stations set up for expatriate voters report a voter turnout of 32.75% from the start of voting last Saturday through mid-day Thursday.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is standing for re-election, fulfilled his civic duty around ten o’clock, when he cast his vote at the El Bachir El Ibrahimi primary school in the Algiers neighbourhood of El Biar. Accompanied by a few family members, he did not speak to the press.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia also voted at the Pasteur school in the centre of Algiers. Having slipped his ballot paper into the box, he told the press that "the turn-out will be higher than expected".

As of press time, the only reported disturbance is in Raffour, Mchedellah commune (50 km east of Bouira). Authorities had to close a polling station because of protesters, local press quoted wali Ali Bouguera as saying in a brief press conference held around 11 am.

In the working-class district of El Harrach, in the eastern suburbs of Algiers, people heading off to work gave the impression that they were not really interested in the election. In the local fruit and vegetable market, it was the soaring prices that drew the most comment.

Ahmed, in his 50s, was clearly angry as he did his shopping. When Magharebia asked him about the election, he replied, "How am I supposed to go and vote? I’ve been round the market three times and haven’t bought a thing yet. Potatoes are 100 Dinars. How do you expect me to vote for people who haven’t the faintest idea what we have to put up with? I don’t want to hear about voting."

We took a little detour to visit the polling station for this estate, which has 532 homes. As in other stations, it is guarded by police. No parking is allowed near the polling station, to prevent terrorist attacks. Bags are systematically searched on entry. Here, there has been a cautious trickle of voters, but one observer predicted that things would "get going this afternoon".

Women are in the majority here; they come to vote early so they can then go about the rest of their daily business.

"I come and vote out of a sense of duty, not because of any conviction," explains Fatiha, a mother of two. "None of the candidates has persuaded me, but I’m doing my duty as a citizen, and I’d rather do it in the morning so that I can have the rest of the day to myself."

Heading towards the women-only room, Fatiha shows her voting card and identity card to the staff, as the law demands. She then takes her six voting slips before hiding away in the booth to choose one.

Observers for the six candidates watch over the process to make sure there are no voting irregularities.

In Eucalyptus, a working-class district which has suffered the horrors of terrorism, people have turned out in slightly greater numbers. In the polling station for the 621-home estate, the flow of voters started as soon as the doors opened.

Mohamed, a white-collar worker in a national company, explains that "voting is an act of defiance".

"We’ve suffered so much because of terrorism that today, with the return of stability, we’re proud to go and vote," he adds.

In the Rue Didouche Mourad, the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), which is boycotting this election, was still waving black flags to denounce the ballot.

Despite calls for a boycott, the chairman of the election monitoring committee - who toured various poling stations this morning - said he was satisfied with the way the voting operation has been running under the watchful eyes of more than 200 foreign observers.

In accordance with Article 26 of the electoral law, polling stations will close at 7 pm, but walis may, with the permission of the ministry of the interior and local authorities, postpone closure for an hour or two.

The name of the next President of the Republic will be announced Friday morning by the interior minister.