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In Algeria, an Opposition Figure Withdraws His Candidacy for the Presidential Election

Secretary General of the Workers’ Party, Louisa Hanoune, speaks of “unfair conditions” and a “regressive and anti-democratic legislative framework”.

Louisa Hanoune, the general secretary of the Workers’ Party (Trotskyist), who was imprisoned in the wake of the Hirak protest movement in 2019, announced on Saturday that she was withdrawing her candidacy for the upcoming presidential election. This announcement comes after Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Thursday, July 11, his intention to run for a new term.

In a statement, Ms. Hanoune  spoke of “unfair conditions” and a “regressive and antidemocratic legislative framework .” In a Facebook post, she added that her party would also not participate in the “voting process of September 7,” the date of the early presidential election. She denounced an “intention to exclude the Workers’ Party from the presidential election and (…) to flout the people’s right to choose between political programs freely.”

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Hanoune, who ran for president in 2004, 2009, and 2014, did not provide further details but said her decision was based on “  information” at her disposal. Tebboune, 78, said on Thursday that he would seek another term based on “the desire of many parties, political and non-political organizations, and the youth.”

A figure of the Algerian opposition, Louisa Hanoune was imprisoned in May 2019, in the midst of Hirak, after being charged with “plotting” against the state and the army. She was released in February 2020 and acquitted in January 2021.

Mr. Tebboune, who is the favorite to go to the poll, won the last election, marked by a high abstention rate, with 58% of the vote. He succeeded Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to resign in 2019 under pressure from the army and the Hirak. A former prime minister under Mr. Bouteflika, Mr. Tebboune oversaw the repression of the Hirak.

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