Bouteflika contenders dispute election results
2009-04-13
Rival candidates and opposition parties respond to Algerian President Bouteflika's re-election.
By Said Jameh for Magharebia in Algiers – 13/04/09
 [Getty Images] Bouteflika said his re-election was "a consecration of democracy in Algeria". |
Challengers to President Bouteflika in the April 9th presidential election were swift to react to the incumbent's victory. Mohammed Djahid Younsi, Ali Faouizi Rebaine, and Louisa Hanoune alleged widespread election fraud, Mohammed Said rushed to congratulate the new president and Moussa Touati opted for the middle ground.
In a statement released on Friday (April 10th), Bouteflika called his re-election "a consecration of democracy in Algeria" and vowed to fulfil his campaign promises.
While the international community congratulated Bouteflika on his victory, some rival candidates questioned the legitimacy of the poll.
Louisa Hanoune accused the administration of extensive rigging of the election in the country’s 48 provinces. The announcement that the turnout was estimated at 75% "reminded us of the one-party election", she said, referring to the period of National Liberation Front rule from 1962 to 1989.
In a meeting with national and international press, Hanoune affirmed that Bouteflika did not win 90% of the votes. She disputed the official report stating that she received 4% of votes. She claimed to have actually received over 30%.
"The violations that took place on April 9th affect the credibility of the presidential election and made it look like the elections that are held in the banana republics," she said.
She plans to file a claim with the Constitutional Council to appeal the results.
Criticism from Ahd 54 chief Ali Faouzi Rebaine was even sharper.
"The announced results in favour of Bouteflika opened the door for the birth of the Bouteflika Kingdom and the destruction of the November Revolution spirit," Rebaine said. He called for opening a public debate on the announced turnout and the percentage won by President Bouteflika.
Rebaine added that he would complain directly to UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon. Rebaine deems the Constitutional Council unqualified "to make decisions about the appeals made to it".
For his part, Islamist candidate Mohammed Djahid Younci said that while he would recognise Bouteflika as the president, he doubted the credibility of the election. "The turnout did not exceed 25%," he said, adding that "the people’s will was not respected".
Opposition leaders also questioned the voter turnout tally, accusing President Bouteflika and Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni of inflating the numbers. Karim Tabou, General Secretary of the Socialist Forces Front, said that the turnout did not exceed 18%. Said Saudi, General Secretary of the Rally for Culture and Democracy, which boycotted the election, said that the turnout was only 25%.
A delegation of international observers representing the African Union, Arab League, and the Islamic Conference responded to these accusations. Arab League observer Chadli Nefati said that the "election was held under suitable conditions that allowed Algerians to choose their president freely".
Moussa Touati, meanwhile, refused to comment on the result of election. He only noted that he deserved to win second place rather than third place. He invited the leaders of his party to a meeting on April 16th to examine the results.
Candidate Mohammed Said congratulated Bouteflika. He phoned him and stressed the need to open up the political field in the country. Observers understood Said's appeal as a request for his new Party of Justice and Freedom to be recognised.
The new president also received messages of congratulations from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the EU.
The US State Department congratulated the new president but also requested clarifications of the complaints filed by opposition parties.
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aicha Posted 2009-04-13
My congratulations go to President Bouteflika. We hope that he will support Algeria and that he will take care of it because there is a lot of unemployment here, especially in Oran. We are engineers without work. I hope that the president will take care of this problem. Please accept my sincerest respects, Mr President. –Thank you
Anonymous Posted 2009-04-13
The Algerian people are experiencing their most miserable days. The punishment perpetrators of the regime did the filthiest act which can be committed by any regime on Earth. They have falsified in a disgusting and repulsive way which pushes to suicide. The real turnout of Algerian voters didn’t exceed 20%. Orders were instructed to fill boxes in favour of “His Excellency”. He brazenly declares: the Algerian people showed their political maturity in these elections!! What political maturity?? Is it because they boycotted a masquerade, but you deviated them in your favour in a flagrant fraud as you falsified the constitution outside the frameworks of constitutional legitimacy in order to remain in power all your life, to prepare its transfer to your younger brother Essaid (who is shorter than him) to transform the republic into a monarchy? But this will not happen as long as the Algerian people still have a drop of blood. The coming days will be the hardest.
عبدالرحمان Posted 2009-04-14
President Bouteflika deserves to win with merit more than other candidates.
mohamed Posted 2009-04-14
We all expected a victory; fraud was to be predicted since it started well before the elections. Amending the constitution is already one form of it, given that if the people voted the constitution in, then they ought to be the ones to amend it after a debate. You do not lay hands on the constitution even one little bit without a debate and a show-of-hands vote, just like in a community indictment. The Algerians are deeply shocked not at Bouteflika’s re-election, but by the way that even the constitutional council has become a support group for the president. The tally for the turnout and the votes correspond to a banana republic. Contrary to what those responsible for this holdup think, this way of doing things does not do service to the country or to the president, who has come out weakened by this masquerade. It is a shame, because lower, legitimate results would have rendered great service to the president and to Algeria. However, some people continue on in the momentum of the 1970s Soviet- and Tunisian-style voting.
baqqli abdesselam Posted 2009-04-15
Mr Abderrahmane- Please give me one reason or justification – just one – for Mr Bouteflika deserving to be re-elected.
سمرة Posted 2009-04-18
Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika is qualified for this function. There is no one in the political arena who can rival him in this post. The best example is the law of social entente. Thanks to this law, we got rid of the black decade. There is also his successful foreign policy. We shouldn't forget all the projects and job opportunities for young people. The reason for which the turnout in the elections was high is that the people don't want to be in the opposition. Opposition means no to Algeria. Thank you.
zenati Posted 2009-04-19
I read the article. In any country, when a president is elected or re-elected, there is always something to complain about. Bouteflika was re-elected by the majority because, with the exception of Boumedienne, no one has ever met the hops the people placed in him. May God grant him health and a long life in order to lead Algeria to the right ends. Long live Algeria! Glory to our martyrs!
حكيم الجزائري Posted 2009-04-20
I am sorry to condole myself and condole my great people for the degradation and destruction of the country surrounding us, especially the fraud we witnessed and reinforcement of the dictator regime. The country is going to the abyss. But the odd thing is that they are still reaping it. Whenever a gang of thieves disappears, a more serious gang appears. They deceive the people by playing with their feelings and manipulating their emotions in the name of revolution sometime and religion sometime. They deceive God and believers, but they are only deceiving themselves unknowingly. Bouteflika thinks he is one of the people sent by God every one hundred years to save the nation. He has become an old man sick with illusions. We don't know where he is driving us to.
nouaouria Posted 2009-04-23
Salam alaikoum- The Algerian election was a real fiasco. We already know that the Algerians knew that Bouteflika was already sure he was going to have another term. I hope that Bouteflika will listen to the Algerian people. I hope that he and the generals will keep their promises and spend the oil money to benefit the Algerians and give work to our young. They are tired of this. It is time to open your eyes and make Algerian into a great country, where people live under good conditions. Stop talking about peace and prosperity. Algeria needs to get its economic start like its Tunisian and Moroccan neighbours. It needs to resolve the problems in the daily lives of Algerians. When purchasing power increases, the wages will already be good. I think that it is time that the oil money benefit the people. God willing, I hope that Bouteflika is conscious of this. Long live Algeria!
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