Constitutional Court says the incumbent held his seat by securing 84.3 percent of the votes in September 7 polls.Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has won a second term with a landslide 84.3 percent of the vote in last week’s election, according to the Constitutional Court.
The court on Saturday said it had local voting data to settle questions about irregularities that Tebboune’s opponents had alleged in two appeals this week.
The preliminary results issued by the National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) on Sunday gave Tebboune nearly 95 percent support, prompting other candidates to challenge the results in court.
“After verification of the minutes of the regions and correction of the errors noted in the counting of the votes,” it lowered Tebboune’s vote share and determined that his two opponents had won hundreds of thousands more votes than previously reported, Constitutional Court President Omar Belhadj said in remarks broadcast live on national TV and radio stations.
“We announce that Mr Abdelmadjid Tebboune is elected for a second term and will assume his responsibilities when he swears in,” Belhadj said.
Tebboune, 78, had been widely expected to breeze through the election and was focused instead on securing a high turnout, which according to Belhadj stood at 46.1 percent in the September 7 ballot, in which more than 24 million Algerians were registered to vote.
Tebboune was first elected in December 2019 with 58 percent of the vote despite a record abstention rate above 60 percent during the mass Hirak pro-democracy protests. He has since drawn criticism over his human rights record.
According to Amnesty …