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    18-Apr-2014

Bouteflika wins fourth term as Algeria’s president

 

Alarabiya.net

 

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power for 15 years and is confined to a wheelchair, has won a fourth term with 81.53 percent of votes, Interior Minister Tayeb Belaiz announced on Friday.
 
Bouteflika’s closest rival Ali Benflis came second with meager 12.18 percent of the total votes cast, the interior minister said.
 
He noted that the voter turnout stood at 51.3 percent, highlighting the “free and fair” electoral process. He said some “minor” incidents did not amount to a major issue that could disrupt the elections.
 
Violence had erupted in the eaters region of Kabyle and several protesters had erupted in the capital Algiers against Bouteflika running for a fourth term.
 
Bouteflika, 77, had been widely expected to win a fourth term, even though he appeared only rarely since a stroke last year. Opposition parties boycotted the vote or denounced Thursday’s election as a fraud.
 
His chief opponent, Benflis, already criticized the election as marked by “fraud on a massive scale” after polls closed Thursday.
 
The results came after a three-week election campaign that saw a spirited effort by Benflis and his supporters. He has vowed to contest the results.
 
Official figures for turnout were 51.7 percent, down from the 75 percent turnout for Bouteflika’s last win in 2009. The figures have been described by activists and opposition politicians as inflated, according to Associated Press.
 
Since suffering from a stroke last year, there have been concerns about the president’s ability to run this key energy supplier for Europe.
 
 

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