Algeria’s Constitutional Council on Monday put the seal on Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s name for the post of the country’s president for the next five years.
Tebboune was declared the winner after he won 58% of the vote in the first round of the election held last week. He will succeed Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned in April after mass protests against his 20-year rule.
Although the election was marred by mass protests and less voting turnout, the constitutional body said the voting was valid as it was carried out in a good climate, reported Africa News.
“The Constitutional Council proclaims Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune president of the Algerian democratic and popular Republic”, President of the Constitutional Council Kamel Fenniche said in a televised speech.
Fenniche added that Tebboune is set to be sworn as president next Thursday as Algeria’s Constitution provides that the president is sworn in within a week of his election. He also confirmed that the Constitutional Council has received no appeal from the other four presidential election candidates.
In a speech on Friday after winning the election, Tebboune vowed to reach out to the protesters and fight corruption. He said he was ready to engage in dialogue with protesters, pledging “major changes” to the country’s constitution and election law.
Algeria has been in turmoil for months as the people continue to demand for the removal of the remnants of Bouteflika’s regime including interim President Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister Nouredine Bedoui.
The protesters claim the poll cannot be fair unless the ruling elite and the military give up their power. They have rejected all five candidates who contested the election, including Tebboune, calling them “children of the regime” and of the former President Bouteflika.
Tebboune was appointed minister-delegate for local government until 1992 and then was appointed as the prime minister in 2017 under Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
