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Algerians widely boycotted yesterday’s vote on a constitutional amendment that is supposed to establish a “new Algeria” and legitimize President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the owner of this initiative and the largest absentee of this day due to his treatment abroad.
The 61,000 polling stations closed as planned at 7:00 AM (18:00 GMT), while it seemed that the general trend was towards a large electoral abstention. The turnout rate, the only bet in this referendum, at 17:00 (16:00 GMT) was 18.44 percent, according to Mohamed Sharafi, head of the National Independent Authority for Elections.
During the presidential elections held on December 12, this percentage reached 39.93%, the lowest percentage of all the multi-presidential elections in Algerian history, and this is what prompts Tebboune to seek legitimacy.
An AFP correspondent attended the counting process in two electoral offices of the Pasteur Center in the center of the capital, where participation did not exceed 11.5 and 12.5 percent. There is no doubt that the “yes” side won, since the campaign that preceded the referendum, which was indifferent to a large part of the population, was in one direction, while the “no” supporters were unable to organize rallies. The voting offices waited until the last moment for voters to arrive, as did 86-year-old Mohamed Miloud Laroussi, the last voter at the Pasteur Center.
Due to the epidemic, there are strict procedures in place, from limiting the number of people entering the polling place to two or three at a time, to adhering to the wearing of masks.
The curtains were removed from the polls to prevent voters from touching them. In a message published by the official news agency on Saturday night, Tebboune said: “The Algerian people will once again have an appointment with history for the desired real change (…) through a referendum on the project of amendment to the constitution, in order to establish a new era that fulfills the hopes of the nation and the aspirations of our honorable people. To a strong, modern and democratic state ”. The date of the referendum was not chosen by chance. The first of November is the “Day of the Revolution”, which commemorates the outbreak of the War of Independence against French colonialism (1954-1962). And President Tebboune (74) is the biggest absent in this poll after he was flown to Germany on Wednesday to undergo “in-depth medical examinations” following news of suspected cases of Covid-19 disease all around him.
The presidency stated that his condition is “stable and not disruptive.” His wife, Fatima Zahraa, Tebboune was elected on his behalf at the Ahmed Erwa Voting Center in Staoueli Township in the western suburbs of the capital. Activists on social media reported that the riots and the breaking of the polls occurred on Saturday night, Sunday, in the Kabylie region, known for its electoral reluctance. As stated by the National Committee for the Release of Detainees and an association that supports the movement, the police forces detained several people in the capital and Tizi Ouzou.
The Minister of Communication and Government spokesman, Ammar Belhimer, expressed his optimism “with the conscience and conviction of the people to go en masse to the polls, participate in the construction of a new pillar on the path of comprehensive national construction and lose the opportunity for the enemies of Algeria, “according to official media this Wednesday. However, the constitution, with its new amendments, preserves the essence of the presidential system, despite its inclusion of a series of rights and freedoms to satisfy the aspirations of the movement.
(AFP)
