Algeria’s electoral authority, Anie, announced that three candidates have been approved to run in the anticipated presidential election on September 7. Among them is the current President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The other two candidates are Abdelaali Hassani and Youssef Aouchiche.
Out of sixteen applications, Anie accepted only three, including President Tebboune, who is the frontrunner with the highest likelihood of winning. At 78, Tebboune declared on July 11 his intention to seek a second term, supported by four political parties, including the FLN and Abdelkader Bengrina’s Islamist party, al Bina.
The other two approved candidates are Abdelali Hassani, the 57-year-old head of the leading Islamist party, the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), and Youssef Aouchiche, a 41-year-old former journalist and current leader of the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) since 2020. Aouchiche’s FFS, an opposition party rooted in Kabylie, ended a 25-year boycott of presidential elections.
The confirmation of these three candidates was expected, as each had to present at least 600 signatures from elected officials across 29 prefectures or a minimum of 50,000 signatures from registered voters, with at least 1,200 signatures per prefecture.
Two female candidates, Hirak lawyer Zobeida Assoul and business leader Saïda Nezgha, were rejected. Nezgha has announced plans to appeal to the Constitutional Court, stating, “I fear no one, I will claim my rights through the law.”
According to Anie, neither candidate met the required number of endorsements.
Once all appeals are exhausted, the electoral campaign will commence on August 15 and conclude three days before the election on September 7th.