11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Algerian President Abdelmayid Tebboune announced Thursday that he would run for a second term in the September 7 presidential election, ending months of speculation over whether he would seek re-election.
“It is time to announce that I will be a candidate for a second term as authorized by the Constitution. If the people approve me, so be it. If not, I will have fulfilled part of my duty and whoever succeeds me will continue the mission,” he said, according to the newspaper ‘Tout sur l’Algerie’.
Several political parties have previously expressed their support for Tebune’s candidacy, including the National Democratic Rally (RND) and the National Liberation Front (FLN), the ruling party since Algeria gained independence in 1962.
Tebune dissolved the Algerian parliament in February 2021 and called for early parliamentary elections. The FLN won the most votes in the June elections, winning 98 seats, a loss of some 63 deputies compared to the 2017 parliamentary elections.
The current Algerian president won the presidential election in 2019 with 58.13 percent of the vote in an election in which the participation rate was just under 40 percent, the lowest figure recorded in the country.
The presidential elections followed protests by the Hirak movement, which called for a renewal of the political system inherited from the FLN. These elections were criticised by the opposition and a large part of the population showed their discontent in the 2020 constitutional referendum.
Tebout has since used constitutional reform as a shield to present an image of change and has made statements praising the protests against former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was overthrown in 2019.
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