Algerian presidential election, 2014

Last updated
Algerian presidential election, 2014
Flag of Algeria.svg
←  2009 17 April 2014 (2014-04-17) 2019  →
22,880,678 registered voters
Turnout51.70%
  Bouteflika (Algiers, Feb 2006).jpeg Ali Benflis 2014 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Abdelaziz Bouteflika Ali Benflis
Party FLN Independent
Popular vote8,332,5981,244,918
Percentage81.53%12.18%
President before election

Abdelaziz Bouteflika
FLN

Elected President

Abdelaziz Bouteflika
FLN

Algeria
Algeria emb (1976).svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Algeria

Presidential elections were held in Algeria on 17 April 2014. [1] Incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected with 82% of the vote. Issues in the campaign included a desire for domestic stability after the bloody civil war of the 1990s, [2] the state of the economy (30% unemployment), [2] the frail health of the 15 year incumbent and 77-year-old president whose speech was "slurred and inaudible" in his only public outing during the campaign, [2] and the less-than-wholehearted support given the president by normally united and discrete ruling class. [2]

Algeria country in North Africa

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north of the country on the Mediterranean coast. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world, and the largest in Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the west by Morocco, to the southwest by the Western Saharan territory, Mauritania, and Mali, to the southeast by Niger, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. The country is a semi-presidential republic consisting of 48 provinces and 1,541 communes (counties). It has the highest Human development index of all non-island African countries.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika President of Algeria

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, GColIH is an Algerian politician who has been the fifth President of Algeria since 1999. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1963 to 1979. As President, he presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002, and he ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest. He was the president of the United Nations General Assembly for a term in 1974.

Algerian Civil War 1991-2002 civil war in Algeria

The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian Government and various Islamic rebel groups which began in 1991 following a coup negating an Islamist electoral victory. The war began slowly as it first appeared the government had successfully crushed the Islamist movement, but armed groups emerged to fight jihad and by 1994, violence had reached such a level that it appeared the government might not be able to withstand it. By 1996–7 however it became clear that the violence and predation of the Islamists had lost its popular support, although fighting continued for several years after.

Contents

Background

Following the 2009 presidential elections, the region and the country (to a lesser degree) was engulfed by the Arab Spring. A series of protests took place between 2010 and 2012, but the country did not undergo regime change unlike neighbouring Tunisia and Libya.

Arab Spring protests and revolutions in the Arab world

The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East in late 2010. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, beginning with protests in Tunisia. In the news, social media has been heralded as the driving force behind the swift spread of revolution throughout the world, as new protests appear in response to success stories shared from those taking place in other countries. In many countries, the governments have also recognized the importance of social media for organizing and have shut down certain sites or blocked Internet service entirely, especially in the times preceding a major rally. Governments have also scrutinized or suppressed discussion in those forums through accusing content creators of unrelated crimes or shutting down communication on specific sites or groups, such as through Facebook.

Tunisia Country in Northern Africa

Tunisia (officially the Republic of Tunisia) is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia's population was 11.435 million in 2017. Tunisia's name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on its northeast coast.

Candidates

In November 2013, the National Liberation Front endorsed the ailing incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika as its candidate in the race. [3] Bouteflika's candidacy was confirmed by then-Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal (who would be later re-appointed to said post) in late February. [4] Ali Benflis, a former Prime Minister, announced on 19 January 2014 that he was running for the presidency. [5] Louisa Hanoune, the secretary-general of the Workers Party, presented her candidacy on 21 January 2014. [6]

National Liberation Front (Algeria) political party in Algeria

The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was the principal nationalist movement during the Algerian War and the sole legal and the ruling political party of the Algerian state until other parties were legalised in 1989.

Prime Minister of Algeria position

The Prime Minister of Algeria is the head of government of Algeria.

Abdelmalek Sellal Algerian politician and a Prime Minister

Abdelmalek Sellal is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria from 3 September 2012 to 13 March 2014 and again from April 2014 to May 2017.

Campaign

The campaign officially started on 22 March 2014. [7] Bouteflika only appeared in the campaigning twice, [8] leaving others in the party to campaign.

Boycott and protests

The Islamist Movement of Society for Peace announced on 25 January 2014 that it would boycott the elections. [9] The Islamic Renaissance Movement announced on 7 February 2014 that it will also boycott the vote. [10] On 22 March, about 5,000 people rallied in Algiers for a boycott due to Bouteflika seeking another term and called for reforms to the political system. Both Islamic and secular parties were present with Rally for Culture and Democracy's Mohsen Belabes saying: "The people here are the people who have been excluded, who have been put aside, but this is the real Algeria. The regime will collapse, but Algeria will survive". [11]

Movement of Society for Peace

The Movement for the Society of Peace is an Islamist party in Algeria, led until his 2003 death by Mahfoud Nahnah. Its current leader is Bouguerra Soltani. It is aligned with the international Muslim Brotherhood.

The Islamic Renaissance Movement is a moderate Islamist political party of Algeria.

Rally for Culture and Democracy political party

The Rally for Culture and Democracy is a political party in Algeria. It promotes secularism (laïcité) and has its principal power base in Kabylie, a major Berber-speaking region. Some consider it to take the position of a liberal party for the Berber-speaking population in Algerian politics.

A movement called Barakat expressed rejection of a fourth term for Abdelaziz Bouteflika, opposed the nature of the elections, and has organized protests demanding a new political order. [12] [13] [14]

Opinion polls

An opinion poll conducted by Echaâb in March showed the incumbent president Bouteflika winning. [15]

Conduct

The electoral commission reported that there were just a few incidents which entailed just 130 complaints. [16] However, incidents of violence were recorded as groups of youths in the Berber-dominated Kabylie's Bouira region ransacked voting centres in Raffour, M'Chedellah and Saharij just after they opened at 7:00, with riot police then firing tear gas at them. At least 70 people were injured, including 47 policemen as voting was temporarily suspended. In Raffour, masked and armed youths with slings chanted hostile slogans and confronted the police were firing tear gas. [17]

Results

Interior Minister Taieb Belaiz announced on 18 April that Abdelaziz Bouteflika had won 81.53% of the vote, while Ali Benflis came in second with 12.18%. [18] The turnout was 51.7%, down from the 75% turnout in 2009. [19] Turnout was as low as 20.01% in Tizi Ouzou to as high as 82% in Relizane. [20]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Abdelaziz Bouteflika National Liberation Front 8,332,59881.53
Ali Benflis Independent1,244,91812.18
Abdelaziz Belaid Front for the Future 343,6243.36
Louisa Hanoune Workers' Party 140,2531.37
Ali Fawzi Rebaine Ahd 54 101,0460.99
Moussa Touati Algerian National Front 57,5900.56
Invalid/blank votes1,087,449–
Total11,307,478100
Registered voters/turnout21,871,39351.70
Source: Interior Ministry e  •  d

Reactions

After the polls closed, Benflis criticised the election as having been marked by "fraud on a massive scale." The turnout figures were also criticised for allegedly being inflated by unnamed activists and opposition politicians. [19] Benflis told his supporters at his headquarters that due to the scale of the alleged fraud and irregularities: "Our history will remember this date as a great crime against the nation by stealing the voice of the citizens and blocking popular will." At the same time, Bouteflika supporters celebrated with fireworks. [16]

Related Research Articles

Ali Benflis Algerian politician

Ali Benflis is an Algerian politician who was Head of Government of Algeria from 2000 to 2003. In 2003, he became the general secretary of the National Liberation Front party. Benflis was a candidate in the 2004 presidential election, but the poll resulted in the re-election of Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Benflis ran yet again as an independent candidate in the 2014 Algerian presidential elections held on 17 April 2014. As a result, Abdelaziz Bouteflika was reelected as president with 81.53% of the votes, with Benflis ending as runner-up with 12.18%.

Chadli Bendjedid Algerian politician

Chadli Bendjedid was the third President of Algeria; his presidential term of office ran from 9 February 1979 to 11 January 1992.

Louisa Hanoune Algerian politician

Louisa Hanoune is the head of Algeria's Workers' Party. In 2004, she became the first woman to run for President of Algeria. Hanoune was imprisoned by the government several times prior to the legalization of political parties in 1988. She was jailed soon after she joined the Trotskyist Social Workers Organisation, an illegal party, in 1981 and again after the 1988 October Riots, which brought about the end of the National Liberation Front's (FLN) single-party rule. During Algeria's civil war of the 1990s, Hanoune was one of the few opposition voices in parliament, and, despite her party's laicist values, a strong opponent of the government's "eradication" policy toward Islamists. In January 1995, she signed the Sant'Egidio Platform together with representatives of other opposition parties, notably the Islamic Salvation Front, the radical Islamist party whose dissolution by military decree brought about the start of the civil war.

2004 Algerian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Algeria on 8 April 2004. Incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected with 85% of the vote.

Elections in Algeria

Algeria elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. People's National Assembly has 462 members, elected for a five-year term in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation. Eight seats in the national assembly are reserved for Algerians abroad. The Council of the Nation has 144 members, 96 members elected by communal councils and 48 members appointed by the president. Algeriawesh alors has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. According to a US Embassy cable, the 2009 presidential elections were "carefully choreographed and heavily controlled", with the official turnout figure "exaggerated" by at least 45%.

2002 Algerian legislative election

The 2002 Algerian Legislative election was held in Algeria on 30 May 2002 to elect members of the People's National Assembly. The governing National Liberation Front (FLN) won a majority of seats in the election. The election suffered from a low turnout, violence and boycotts by some opposition parties.

Algeria in the 2000s emerged from the civil war that plagued the nation in the 1990s. President Bouteflika's agenda focused initially on restoring security and stability to the country. Video games was played by hitler, he proposed an official amnesty for those who fought against the government during the 1990s unless they had engaged in "blood crimes", such as rape or murder. This "Civil Concord" policy was widely approved in a nationwide referendum in September 2000. FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, dissolved itself in January 2000; governmtent officials estimate that 85% of those fighting the regime during the 1990s have accepted the amnesty offer and have been reintegrated into Algerian society. Bouteflika also has launched national commissions to study education and judicial reform, as well as restructuring of the state bureaucracy. His government has set ambitious targets for economic reform and attracting foreign investment.

2009 Algerian presidential election presidential election

A presidential election was held in Algeria on 9 April 2009.

Events from the year 2007 in Algeria.

1999 Algerian presidential election

The 1999 Algerian presidential election took place on 15 April 1999 to elect the President of Algeria. Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected with 73.8% of the vote after the other six candidates withdrew on the eve of the election.

2005 Algerian national reconciliation referendum

The 2005 Algerian national reconciliation referendum took place in Algeria on 29 September 2005. The referendum was held on a Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation which had been drawn up to try to bring closure to the Algerian Civil War. The official results showed an overwhelming vote in favour on a high turnout.

2012 Senegalese presidential election election

A presidential election took place in Senegal on 26 February 2012, amidst controversy over the constitutional validity of a third term for incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade. In the runoff on 25 March, Macky Sall defeated the incumbent president. The 2015 documentary film Incorruptible chronicles both campaigns as well as the youth movement Y'en Marre, which led protests against Wade's administration.

2012 Algerian legislative election election

A legislative election was held in Algeria on 10 May 2012. The incumbent coalition, consisting of the FLN of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the RND of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, held on to power after winning a majority of seats. The Islamist parties of the Green Algeria Alliance lost seats.

Events from the year 2012 in Algeria

Tayeb Belaiz is an Algerian jurist and politician who has served in different cabinet posts. He has served as Algeria's Minister of the Interior since 11 September 2013.

The following lists events that happened during 2014 in Algeria.

2019 Algerian presidential election

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Algeria on 18 April 2019.

References

  1. ↑ "Algeria set to start presidential election on April 17". Shanghai Daily. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 GALL, CARLOTTA; ZERDOUMI, AMIR JALAL (April 13, 2014). "Discontent Swells as President of Algeria Seeks a Fourth Term". New York Times. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Algeria's president nominated for fourth term". Al Jazeera. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "Algeria's Bouteflika to run for re-election". Al Jazeera. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Ex-PM to run for Algeria presidency". Al Jazeera English. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Algérie: Louisa Hanoune, candidate à l'élection présidentielle" (in French). RFI. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Presidential campaign kicks off". Al Jazeera. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Mansour O El-Kikhia. "Algeria: The challenge of poor choices - Opinion". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  9. ↑ "Algerian Islamists to boycott presidential election". AFP. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "Algeria's Islamist group to boycott presidential elections". Cairo Post. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Thousands in Algeria call for poll boycott". Al Jazeera. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Algeria activists stage rare anti-gov't protest". Yahoo News. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Algeria accused of protest crackdown". Al Jazeera. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Algerian protesters denounce Bouteflika bid for a fourth presidential term". Al Akhbar. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Election campaign launch on front pages of national newspapers". Algeria Press Service. 23 March 2014.
  16. 1 2 Schemm, Paul (17 April 2014). "Opposition Cries Fraud in Algerian Election". ABC News. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "70 injured as Algerian youths, police clash". News24. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Bouteflika wins 4th term as Algerian president". Al Arabiya. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  19. 1 2 "Algeria's ailing president wins fourth term". Al Jazeera. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "Elections Présidentielles du 17 Avril 2014" (PDF) (in French). Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Collectivités Locales. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.