Algerian president Abdelmajid Teboun was sworn in yesterday for a second term after being elected in a runoff marred by apathy and doubts related to the counting of votes, reported the Associated Press, quoted by BTA.
The inauguration ceremony for Teboun's second five-year term took place at the People's Palace in Club de Pen, a seaside resort on the west coast of the capital, Algiers. The president's two rivals, Islamist Abdelali Hassan Sherif and socialist Youssef Auchish, attended the ceremony, which took place three days after Algeria's Constitutional Court upheld Teboun's landslide victory in the September 7 election.
The court announced its decision on Saturday after a recount. Data from the requested recount showed Tebun leading by about 75 percentage points over Sheriff, who received nearly 950,000 votes, or about 9.6 percent. Aushish's Socialist Forces Front won more than 580,000 votes, representing about 6.1%. With 7.7 million votes, the incumbent won 84.3% of the vote, surpassing his 2019 achievement by a million votes and a double-digit margin.
Sherif and Auchish were criticized for taking part in an election that government critics denounced as a way for Algeria's political elite to make a show of democracy amid wider political repression.
During the campaign, each of the three candidates emphasized participation, urging voters and youth to participate and not fall for calls to boycott the vote.
According to court data, voter turnout across the country was 46.1%, surpassing the 2019 presidential election, when 39.9% of voters voted.