The National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) will complete, on Thursday, the operation of examining the files of declaration of candidacy for the presidential election of September 7 and the forms of subscription of individual signatures filed by 16 candidates for candidacy at this deadline.
The ANIE had begun processing the files on July 18, the legal deadline for submitting candidacy declaration files, by Article 251 of the organic law relating to the electoral system, which stipulates that the candidacy declaration is filed “at the latest within forty (40) days following the publication of the presidential decree convening the electorate”, knowing that the decree had been published on June 8.
At the end of the examination and processing operation, the Independent Authority will rule on the validity of the candidacies for the Presidency of the Republic by “duly motivated decision, within a maximum period of seven (7) days, from the date of filing of the declaration of candidacy”, per article 252 of the same law.
The decision of the Independent Authority shall be immediately notified to the person concerned. In the event of rejection, he or she may lodge an appeal with the Constitutional Court within a maximum period of forty-eight (48) hours following the time of notification.
The Independent Authority shall transmit to the Constitutional Court its decisions relating to the candidacies accompanied by the candidates’ files within a period not exceeding twenty-four (24) hours, from the date of the announcement of its decisions.
The Constitutional Court validates, by decision, the final list of candidates for the election of the President of the Republic, including appeals, within a maximum period of seven (7) days, from the date of transmission of the last decision of the Independent Authority.
The withdrawal of the candidate is neither accepted nor taken into account after the validation of the candidacies by the Constitutional Court, except in the case of serious impediments legally established by the Constitutional Court or in the event of the death of the person concerned. A new deadline is opened for the submission of a new candidacy. This deadline cannot exceed the month preceding the date of the election, according to the law of elections.
The Constitutional Court recalled, in a press release on Tuesday, the procedures for appealing against decisions rejecting presidential candidacies by the Independent Elections Authority.
She specified that appeals must be filed under “well-defined conditions”. “The person concerned must have been the subject of a decision by the ANIE rejecting his application”.
“The appeal must be filed with the registry of the Constitutional Court, by the interested party or his duly authorized representative, within a maximum period of forty-eight (48) hours following the time of notification of the decision.” “The appeal must be justified and signed by the interested party or his duly authorized representative.”
As a reminder, 16 candidates for the presidential election of September 7 have submitted their candidacy declaration files to the ANIE.
These are Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Mr. Abdelali Hassani Cherif (Movement of Society for Peace โ MSP), Mr. Youcef Aouchiche (Front of Socialist Forces โ FFS), Mr. Belkacem Sahli (Stability and Reform Group โ GSR), Mr. Tarek Zeghdoud (Algerian Rally Party โ RA) and Mr. Ahmed Gouraya (Democratic Youth Front for Citizenship โ FJDC).
Also filing candidacy applications were Mr. Chaabi Salem, Mr. El Abadi Belabbas, Mr. Abdelhakim Hamadi, Mr. Raouf Aib, Mr. Bouamrioune Slimane, Mr. Kamel Hebbal, Mr. Amar Chekar, Mr. Hichem Baba Ahmed, Ms. Zoubida Assoul and Ms. Saรฏda Neghza.
Once their application files have been validated, candidates begin to present their electoral programs during the electoral campaign, which is declared open twenty-three (23) days before the election date and ends three (3) days before the election date.