ALGIERS, Oct 27 (NNN-APS) – A total of nine Algerian presidential candidates have submitted applications to the National Independent Authority for Elections, by Saturday night, a few hours before the deadline of submitting applications.
Among the nine applicants, there are several party leaders and officials, including former Prime Minister, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, former Prime Minister and chairman of the Talaie El Houriyet party, Ali Benflis, and former Culture Minister and Secretary General of National Democratic Rally (RND), Azzedine Mihoubi.
A total of 147 candidates withdrew the subscription forms for individual signatures.
According to Algeria’s organic law on the electoral system, the midnight of Oct 26 is the deadline for submission of candidate files for the election.
The organic law requires that presidential candidates submit at least 50,000 individual signatures of voters, registered on an electoral list, from at least 25 of the 48 Algerian states, and the minimum number of signatures required by each state is at least 1,200.
In mid-Sept, Algeria’s interim President, Abdelkader Bensalah announced that presidential elections will be held on Dec 12.
Algeria has been gripped by mass protests since Feb 22, which forced former President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to resign on Apr 2.– NNN-APS