Protesters took to the streets of central Algiers on Wednesday to demand Thursday’s presidential election be canceled, reported Reuters. The protest movement sees the polls as a regime ploy to cling on to power.
Algerians have rejected all the five candidates who are running in the election, among them two other former prime ministers. The protesters claim that the candidates are somehow associated with the former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whom they ousted in April after two decades in office. Weekly anti-government protest marches that started in February when Bouteflika, 82, announced that he would seek a fifth term in office.
Even after Bouteflika’s removal from the office, the weekly mass protests have continued demanding for a complete political overhaul. The protesters are seeking a total dismantling of the military-dominated system that has ruled Algeria since independence in 1962.
Polls will open at 7 am (GMT) and close at 6 pm (GMT) but the result may not be announced until the following day. The voting turnout is expected to be extremely low after demonstrators have repeatedly called out for a boycott on the eve of the polls.
Meanwhile, Algeria’s Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gaid Salah has threatened to confront demonstrators who are opposed to holding the presidential elections or who are trying to prevent people from voting. The army chief has pushed for Thursday’s vote as the only way to resolve the political crisis.
Salah said he ordered all military officials, soldiers, and security forces to be at their utmost vigilance and preparedness and secure the elections to allow all citizens to exercise their right and electoral duty in a calm atmosphere.
It remains to be seen which presidential election candidate who gets elected after Thursday’s first round and a potential run-off later this month.
