by Cristina Savescu
According to a report issued by Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni, President Bouteflika has been re-elected for a second five-year term in last Thursday’s presidential election, with 83.5% of the votes. He ran against five opposition candidates: former prime minister Ali Benflis, moderate Islamist Abdallah Djaballah, Ali Faouzi Rebaïane of the Algeria of Patriots party, Louisa Hanoune of the Trotskyism Workers’ Party, and Saïd Sadi, leader of the Rally for Culture and Democracy. According to the official results, Bouteflika’s archrival Ali Benflis came in a distant second, with 7.9% of the votes, while Islamist Saad Abdallah Djaballah received 4.8%.
If Bouteflika’s victory is not surprising, the huge margin by which he won definitely is. Indeed, in a recent poll conducted by Paris-based IMMAR Research & Consultancy, the number of those who said they would vote for Bouteflika stood at 55%, while 17% of those interviewed chose Benflis. Roughly 10% said they would vote for Abdallah Djaballah. Even before votes were cast, three of the presidential candidates, including Benflis, said they had information that the Bouteflika camp planned to declare victory in the first round, with up to 55% of the votes. But most political analysts were expecting a tighter race, and did not rule out the possibility of a second-round election. Noteworthy during this presidential election was the army’s decision to remain neutral, especially given the Algerian army’s well-known reputation as the “leader” maker and un-maker in post-independence Algeria.
Shortly after the election results were announced, the opposition, including Ali Benflis, claimed “massive fraud” and said they would appeal. Many of the international observers present in Algeria said, however, that the elections appeared to have been the fairest since multi-party politics were introduced in 1989. Some irregularities were reported in the Kabylie region, where the Aarch movement called for a Berber boycott after negotiations with the government failed in February 2004. Moreover, some observers criticized the monopolization of state institutions, in particular state-run television, by the incumbent during the presidential campaign. To quell opponents’ accusations that the elections would not be free and transparent, Bouteflika had invited international observers to monitor the voting. The Arab League, the European Parliament, the OECD, the African Union, and the United Nations responded to his calls and sent some 120 observers.
In his re-election campaign, President Bouteflika said that voters should allow him to complete the reforms he began during his first term, arguing that one term does not suffice. Many Algerians credit Bouteflika’s “civil accord,” which granted amnesty to Islamic militants willing to lay down their weapons, for the improvement in the country’s security situation. During his second term, we expect Bouteflika to focus on resolving some of the most urgent economic and social problems marring Algeria, chief among them are the 30% unemployment rate and severe housing shortages. Following several years of strong oil revenues, the government has the financial resources, and as indicated by the expansionary 2004 budget, the president plans to address these issues. The government will also renew its efforts to quell the tensions in the Kabylie region, and we expect more funds for economic and social programs to flow there. Equally important, Bouteflika will work to improve the country’s relations with the international community—to “restore Algeria’s status in the world,” the focus of his first presidential term.
