Algerians headed for the polls today to choose between six contenders vying for the highest office in the land.
More than 20 million registered voters today will be able to exercise their civic right in an election which the incumbent, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is expected to prevail over his five rivals.
He is standing for a third term after his party amended the constitution to remove a two-term limit. President Bouteflika has occupied the office since 1999.
He is being challenged by: Labour Party leader Louisa Hanoune, the only woman in the race; the nationalist, Moussa Tauti of the Algerian National Front; the moderate Islamist, Mohammed Said of the Party For Liberty and Justice; another nationalist and second-time contestant Fawzi Rebein of the AHD-54 (who won only 0.63 percent of the vote in 2004); and Jahid Youmsi of El Islah.
The Kinshasa-based daily, Le Potentiel, reported on Thursday that the opposition parties have heavily criticised the inequitable allocation of campaign resources and the ruling party's use of the media. This notwithstanding, a call for a boycott by El Islah leader Younsi has been ignored.
The election turnout is not only the biggest for an Algerian election but its organization appears to have been unflawed, reports the Algiers-based La Tribune. There are a total of 47,150 polling stations, of which 46,577 are in fixed locations, 330 are in diplomatic missions outside the country and the remainder are in rural areas to spare voters the trouble of commuting to towns.
About 200 international observers are in Algeria to monitor the elections, including 85 from the Arab League and 100 from the African Union. Nearly 1,000 journalists, both local and international, have been accredited to cover the event.
Though voting in most of the country began today, polling stations abroad have been open since Monday. According to the foreign ministry, voting in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates has been "exemplary". Voting also commenced on Monday in the rural areas of Wilayas and Batman and the government reports that everything is going well there too.
Compiled by Michael Tantoh from AllAfrica's French site.
