Algeria sets election for September. The military-backed president is expected to seek a 2nd term
Algeria will hold its next presidential election on Sept. 7, giving first-term President Abdelmajid Tebboune more than five months to campaign should he choose to seek a second term leading the oil-rich north African nation
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria will hold its next election on Sept. 7, giving first-term President Abdelmajid Tebboune more than five months to campaign should he decide to seek a second term leading the oil-rich north African nation.
Tebboune's office announced the date in a statement Thursday after meeting with a group that included high-ranking members of Parliament and the constitutional court as well as its independent election authority.
Only Zoubida Assoul of the Union for Change and Progress has come forward to challenge Tebboune, who has not officially announced plans to seek reelection as president of the country of 44 million people which is facing mounting political and economic challenges. The announcement took the nation by surprise as elections in Algeria had been expected to take place in December 2024, raising speculation among observers about the rationale for the change.
Assoul, a 67-year-old lawyer, is best known for defending political prisoners and said three weeks ago in her announcement that she was running because she felt “confident in the possibility of changing the course of things.”
