President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been declared the winner of Algeria’s presidential election, granting him a new mandate as leader of the gas-rich North African nation, five years after pro-democracy protests led to the ouster of his predecessor.
In a result that surprised few international or Algerian observers, the country’s Independent Electoral Authority announced Sunday that Tebboune had won 94% of the vote, vastly outperforming his opponents Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who only received only 3% and the socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who obtained only 2.1%.
Election officials reported that fewer than six million of the country’s 24 million voters had gone to the polls on Saturday. This perpetuated the low turnout that marred Tebboune’s first term and raised questions about his popular support.
Tebboune’s margin of victory far exceeds his victory in 2019 when he won 58% of the vote and his closest opponent 17%.
Officials had not yet announced official turnout figures as of Sunday afternoon. However, preliminary totals did not match provisional turnout figures announced late Saturday evening, when the election authority said turnout had been 48 % in Algeria and 19.6% for polling stations abroad.
Algeria is the largest country in Africa by area and, with almost 45 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous country on the continent after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 – a year in which more than 50 elections take place around the world, encompassing more than half of the world’s population.
