ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The President of Algeria announced on Thursday that he will run for a second term, five years after coming to power as a candidate backed by the military and the establishment amid widespread pro-democracy protests.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a 78-year-old political veteran, said in an interview on Algerian television that he made his decision in response to the support of political parties and young people.
The announcement comes after Tebboune failed to make his intentions known for months following the September 7 election date set nearly four months ago. His re-election for a second term would cement the power of Algeria’s political and military elite and further distance the country from the aspirations of the country’s “Hirak” movement, whose weekly street protests have pressured the country’s ailing octogenarian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to step down after two decades in office.
Tebboune, a former prime minister under Bouteflika, emerged victorious in a low-turnout election in 2019. Protesters boycotted the vote, calling it a hasty move aimed at preserving the old regime’s power in the gas-rich North African country of 45 million people.