Former, Sacked Algerian PM Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Run for Presidential Election

Rabat – Former Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune wants to run in the next Algerian presidential election. The former minister submitted his presidential bid on October 26 along with nine other candidates.

The candidates submitted their applications to the National Independent Authority for the Elections, the Algerian news agency APS reported.

Deposed Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika sacked Tebboune in 2017, only three months after he was appointed.

Bouteflika sacked Tebboune for his alleged public criticism of the Algerian presidency.

Read Also: Algeria Distances Itself from Saadani’s Statement, Renews Support for Polisario

In addition to Tebboune, several other former Algerian officials also seek a place at the Mouradia Palace, the main presidential palace in Algeria.

Former prime minister and chairman of the Talaie El Houriat party Ali Benflis and former Cmture Minister and Secretary General of National Democratic Rally (RND) Azzedine Mihoubi are also among the candidates.

Saturday midnight was the deadline for the submission of candidacy bids.

Algerian authorities announced that the presidential polls will open on December 12 to elect a new president after the forced resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who ruled the country for after four consecutive five-year mandates. 

Protests swept Algeria since February, with protesters calling for a radical change.

Algerian citizens are not satisfied with the decision of some prominent faces of the Bouteflika regime to run for president.  An essential part of the ongoing demonstrations is a desire to inspire a radical rupture from the Bouteflika establishment. 

The protesters, young students or unemployed graduates in their majority, have consistently called for an effective generational change in politics. Most recently,  they have also threatened boycotting the election. 

Amid widespread perception that the surviving faces of the Bouteflika years are keen on paving the way for a facade of change, demonstrators have called on the interim to resign.

On Friday, October 25, thousands of Algerians flooded the streets to reiterate their rejection to the army-backed December election.

Despite the threats from the army to arrest protesters, Algerians are determined to continue to defend their rights for reforms before election.