ALGIERS, 3 March 2004 — The Algerian government was told yesterday to stop a spate of clashes that has disrupted a presidential election campaign, just days before voting, the election monitoring body said. The Interior Ministry had been told to act, “especially when it comes to preventing meetings from taking place and people from being able to attend rallies,” Saied Bouchair, head of the election monitoring body CPNSEP, told state radio.

The second week of campaigning has been marred by violent clashes between youths and police in the volatile Berber region and by violent attacks at rallies of opposition candidates, particularly leading challenger Ali Benflis.

The government-appointed monitoring body, which also has outside representatives, comes after repeated complaints that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was rigging the vote. He has rejected the accusations and has called for calm.

The campaign, which ends on April 5, is setting new ground as six candidates whiz across Africa’s second largest country and run television, radio and newspaper advertisements.

The country of 32 million inhabitants is now flooded with portrait campaign posters to the point that some fear accidents. “It’s a mess. People are getting lost because road signs are covered with election posters,” said a taxi driver, who declined to be named.

The election could mark a turning point for an emerging democracy coming out of a civil war which human rights groups estimate has cost an estimated 150,000 deaths, mostly civilians at the hands of Islamic rebels fighting a holy war or “Jihad”. The armed forces have pledged not to interfere, which could signal a historic move because they have had a key role in picking leaders since independence in 1962.

In cafe discussions in the capital Algiers and second city of Oran, it was the first time in decades Algerians were unsure who would lead the country for the next five years.

Some said while Bouteflika was the favorite there could be a second round of voting. “The generals are not going to appoint a president as they used to do during the last decade. A second round? Maybe,” said Aissa Ahmed, 35, who works for the state telecoms ministry PTT.

Bouteflika and his former friend Benflis are campaigning on similar programs. Bouteflika is calling for greater economic reforms while Benflis is calling for greater separation of powers, removing a state of emergency law and promoting individual liberties.

Benflis, a former prime minister, said on the campaign trail on Thursday that young Algerians would continue to leave unless the country became more democratic and invested in them.

Some 75 percent of the North African country’s population are below 30 and restless after a decade of violence. Almost half are jobless and lack housing, and thousands seek visas every day to go abroad.

Jamel Missouni, a 26-year-old unemployed engineer, said: “My No. 1 concern is getting a job, and then buying an apartment. But I’ll vote this time because I feel it will be open.”

Mouloud Hamrouche, a former prime minister, disagreed, saying “the election outcome has already been decided”.