Algeria is awaiting the result of the early parliamentary elections on Saturday, June 12, marked by a very high rate of abstention, a new sign of disinterest on the part of the population, after the boycott of the ballot by the protest movement of Hirak and part of the opposition.
Read also: In Algeria, legislative elections in renewed indifference
The main issue, the provisional national turnout only reached 30.20%, according to the president of the National Independent Election Authority (ANIE), Mohamed Chorfi. By way of comparison, it stood at 35.70% during the last legislative elections of 2017 and at 42.90% in 2012. Participation is also down compared to the presidential election of 2019, which saw Abdelmadjid Tebboune elected with only 40% of the votes. The participation rate abroad is also "
very low, less than 5%,
" said Mohamed Chorfi.
As in previous elections, abstention is almost total in prefectures of Kabylia (north-east), Béjaïa, Bouira and Tizi Ouzou, where participation is less than 1%. “
Abstentionist tidal wave
”, thus title Liberté en Une. “
As expected, the majority of Algerians shunned the ballot box. The low turnout confirms the strong tendency to reject the ballot,
”said the French-speaking daily. But whatever happens, the authorities will adapt to it.