ALGIERS, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A vast crowd rallied in Algiers on the final on Friday before a contentious presidential election many see as an elite attempt to cling to power despite months of protests.
“No to voting, we swear we will not stop!” protesters chanted. “No retreat!”
The poll set for next Thursday will see five candidates, all linked to ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, compete for his job.
Two of the approved runners even served as prime ministers during the ex-strongman’s two-decade tenure, which ended in April with his resignation in the face of huge protests.
Protesters, who fear Bouteflika allies will use the vote to usher in a successor from their own ranks, say no vote should take place until after sweeping reforms in the North African country.
In the absence of an official tally, it was impossible to estimate the size of Friday’s mobilisation.
But it appeared to be the biggest rally since Nov 1, when citizens took to the streets and demanded a second “liberation” on the 65th anniversary of the start of the war for independence from France.
Marches took place across the country, including in the major cities of Oran and Constantine, local journalists reported.
Checkpoints outside the capital were only letting in vehicles registered in Algiers.
Busloads of plain-clothed and anti-riot police were deployed to the city centre, equipped with water cannons.
Protesters on Friday shouted their support for a general strike set for Sunday and demanded civilian – rather than “military” – rule.
Since Bouteflika stepped down, army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah has emerged as the country’s de facto ruler.
A firm and consistent proponent of elections, the army chief on Tuesday called for a massive turnout in the poll, slamming what he dubbed detractors’ “plotting against the fatherland”.
In an address carried by public and private TV stations on Friday, he said the vote would be an “important deadline” and “an electoral party”.
But protesters in the streets of Algiers shouted a sharp rebuke: “Gaid Salah, forget the vote!”
Authorities have downplayed the level of opposition to the poll.
“Marches in support of the presidential vote are larger than those against it,” the head of Algeria’s election authority, Mohamed Charfi, insisted during an interview with Saudi-owned news channel Al-Hadath.
According to Amnesty International, Algerian authorities have “escalated their pre-election crackdown on protests” in recent weeks, “carrying out waves of arbitrary arrests”.
Interior Minister Salah Eddine Dahmoune sparked outrage earlier in the week when he called opponents of the vote “traitors, mercenaries, homosexuals”.
Friday marks the 42nd consecutive week the “Hirak” protest movement has organised marches across the country.
Former prime ministers Ali Benflis, 75, and Abdelmadjid Tebboune, 73, are considered the frontrunners in the presidential vote.
Three other figures who either participated in Bouteflika-era governments or supported the former strongman have also been cleared to run.
Despite demonstrators’ clear disdain, the five candidates approved by electoral authorities have all sought to portray themselves as close to the protest movement.
In a televised debate on Friday – the first such broadcast event in Algeria’s history – the five faced 13 questions, mainly on the political, economic and social situation in the country. — NNN-AGENCIES