“Not even debates between candidates”: an opponent denounces a democratic system at the end of its tether before the presidential election in Algeria

Algeria has a date with the polls on Saturday, September 7. More than 24 million voters are called to vote to elect their president. Three candidates are in the running, including the outgoing head of state Abdelmadjid Tebboune, 78, considered the big favorite. After surfing the wave of protest of the Hirak during his election in 2019, the Algerian president has gradually stifled all protest in the country. During the previous presidential election, “They pretended, this time, not even, we did not see contradictory debates between the three candidates”, “, complains lawyer Zoubida Assoul. At 68 years old, this figure of the Algerian protest, tried to run in this election. In vain: the opponent was not able to gather the 50,000 voter signatures needed in less than a month, it was “impossible”she says.

“We must continue to resist, we are only claiming rights that are enshrined in the constitution,” denounces the former judge who has seen hopes of change vanish over the last five years. “We have missed many opportunities to make this transition from one system to another and to build the rule of law, freedom, independent justice because it is the only guarantor of the freedoms and rights of citizens. And today, unfortunately, we see that justice is heavily instrumentalized by political power,” deplores Zoubida Assoul. In Algeria, the number of prisoners of conscience is estimated at around 200 people.