Thousands protest in Algeria, hours before polling begins
Algeria … News time
Algeria is voting for the presidential election on Thursday. Thousands of people staged protests in the Algerian capital, hours before the polling began, and urged citizens not to vote. Protesters have termed these presidential elections as hypocritical and are calling for greater reforms in the country before holding them. Police tried to disperse the protesters with sticks and poles in the Algerian capital, but more protesters arrived and then the police had to retreat.
Algerians have protested against the presidential elections in cities, towns and villages in the country’s tribal region. The Berber tribes are the homeland of the breed. According to witnesses, the protesters torched some polling stations and closed their doors. Protesters set fire to ballot boxes and destroyed electoral rolls in Bajaya, a town in the mountainous region, an eyewitness said. Thousands of citizens in Algeria also protested against the presidential election on Wednesday. He has been demanding key government officials to resign and reform institutions before the elections. While the Algerian army and the country’s political elite are calling these presidential elections important. Algerian Caretaker President Abdelkader Bensalah urges citizens to participate in electoral process and, according to your conscience, freely vote for your preferred candidate to remove the country from the current situation. There is a competition between five candidates in these presidential elections. His papers were approved by the authorities after a thorough scrutiny, but he was held in office in the past under the ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Algerian citizens have been protesting against the prevailing system in the country since February. As a result of their protests, former dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika had to step down in April. He has been opposed to the new presidential elections in the country in the presence of individuals holding important positions from the previous regime. Protesters have been demanding that political institutions be restructured. He was of the view that if there were a presidential election in the present situation, then the situation would remain the same and there would be no real change.
It should be remembered that in Algeria it was announced on July 4 to hold the presidential elections, but no suitable candidate had appeared for them. After that the elections were postponed and the country suffered from a constitutional crisis because the 90-day tenure of acting head of state Abdelkader Bensalah ended in early July. The constitution was then amended to extend their term in a parliament.
