Algerian: Former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune Wins Presidential Election

Former Prime Minister, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been declared winner of the Algerian Presidential election.

The nation’s electoral commission made the announcement on Friday.

Other presidential candidates who contested the elections were former Prime ministers Ali Benflis, ex-culture minister Azzedddine Mihoubi, former tourism minister Abdelkader Bengrine and Abdelaziz Belaid, a senior official.

Abdelmadjid Tebboune was said to have garnered 58% of the vote thereby ruling out a rerun.

The head of the electoral commission said in a televised news conference that voter turnout was just 40%.

Euro news reports that the military saw the vote as the only way to restore order in Algeria, Africa’s largest country, a major natural gas supplier to Europe and home to 40 million people.

The authorities believed the election of a new leadership will please the protesters following the removal of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose 20-year-rule was ended in April.

But protesters had said that the election should not hold until the entire ruling elite as well as the military quits politics.

The five contenders at the elections are part of Algeria’s ruling elite, having served in various political positions over the years.

Following the May 2017 parliamentary election, President Bouteflika appointed Tebboune as Prime Minister on 24 May 2017.

Tebboune served for less than three months before dismissal in August 2017.