Meet the three candidates running in Algeria's presidential election: Video
A new president will be elected by Algerians on September 7 in an election that has been widely tipped to be an easy win for incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
About 24 million citizens are expected to cast their votes in the polls with three main candidates.
Over 800,000 Algerians abroad are also scheduled to cast their ballots overseas with polling stations opened on September 2.
Tebboune faces no real challenger although he is being challenged by other opposition candidates, Abdelaali Hassani and Youssef Aouchiche.
These two emerged from the initial 16 candidates who submitted their documents, providing the minimum number of signatures required.
The National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) required that prospective candidates provide 600 individual signatures from elected members of municipal, provincial, or parliamentary councils, or at least 50,000 signatures from eligible voters across at least 29 provinces, with a minimum of 1,200 signatures in each province.
Here is a brief profile of all three candidates vying to be Algeria’s president in the upcoming elections.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune
The 78-year-old incumbent is gunning for a second term as an independent candidate but is being backed by all major political parties in the country including the National Liberation Front (FLN) the first Algerian political party until other parties were legalised.
Tebboune’s campaign has mostly focused on correcting past wrongs and restoring Algeria’s economic fortunes as Africa’s third-largest economy. The incumbent is also expected to tackle issues of political deficit and a clamp down on media freedom. Unemployment and continuous gas export flow are also areas of focus for the government which appears to have the backing of the EU and neighbouring countries.
Abdeli Hassani Cherif
The 57-year-old civil engineer is the leader of the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), Algeria's main Islamist party. Aside from advocating for freedoms, Abdeli preaches a society where equal rights are exercised and the tenets of Islam are upheld. He has also advocated that his administration will focus on the devaluation of Algeria’s currency, the dinar, which has affected purchasing power and average wages of citizens. He also hopes to tackle the country's unemployment issue.
Youcef Aouchiche
Aouchiche is 41 years old. The former journalist and parliamentarian is the leader of the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), Algeria's oldest opposition party with a historic stronghold in the Berber-majority Kabylie region. The FFS has boycotted elections in Algeria since 1999. This year, Aouchiche is hopeful to win the votes of citizens to focus on the release of prisoners of conscience and to review unjust laws, particularly on media and tourism. Similar to his other contenders, Aouchiche hopes to change the fortunes of Algerians by altering economic reforms and tackling social challenges that will improve the living conditions of Algerians. His projects include the Forsa (Opportunity) project which seeks to provide equal income generation opportunities to the poor and most vulnerable.
