Electioneering halted in run-up to Algeria local polls

By Abdul Razik Abdullah

ALGIERS

Algeria on Monday entered a period of “electoral science” -- during which candidates must cease campaigning activities -- ahead of municipal polls slated for Thursday.

As of midnight, all electoral campaigns ground to a halt -- in line with Algeria’s electoral law -- in the run-up to Thursday’s poll, which will see some 65,000 candidates vie for 1,541 municipal council seats and 48 seats on the country’s State Council.

Competitors include a number of independent candidates, along with those hailing from Algeria’s more than 50 political parties.

Local media has already noted a “lack of enthusiasm" on the part of voters amid predictions of low turnout rates like those seen in parliamentary polls conducted in May, which did not exceed 35 percent.

Algerian political observers say voting patterns will likely reflect local tribal affiliations.

In the run-up to the elections, Algeria’s ruling party and opposition have blamed each other for perceived voter apathy, with the former accusing opposition parties of promoting a “discourse of despair” and the opposition pointing to past incidents of vote-rigging.

In a televised interview broadcast Sunday night, Interior Minister Noureddine Badawi blamed all parties -- “not just the ruling party” -- for perceived indifference among the voting public.

Responding to opposition claims that the poll would be rigged, Badawi pointed out that Algeria’s constitution gave “all parties the right to station observers in all voting stations until the poll is conducted”.

In Algeria’s last local poll in 2012, the ruling National Liberation Front (NLF) of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika won a plurality of seats: roughly 1,000 municipal council seats and 43 seats on the State Council.

The National Democratic Rally, the NLF’s coalition partner, which is currently led by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, won the next highest number of seats.