“Move along, there’s nothing to see here.” There is little suspense in this Algerian presidential election, which is set to take place this Saturday. The current president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is running for re-election and appears to be the big favorite in the election, in which 25 million voters are called to vote. But it’s a safe bet that only the turnout will be the unknown factor in this event.
The outgoing leader is in fact opposed by only two adversaries, Abdelaali Hassani, head of the main Islamist party, the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), and Youcef Aouchiche, head of the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS), a party which has boycotted the elections since 1999. The others refused to participate in the vote, or were banned from doing so, when they were not arrested.
