ALGIERS: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika clinched a fourth term on Friday, despite his poor health, winning a landslide victory in an election marred by low turnout and his rival alleging fraud.

The 77-year-old incumbent who voted from a wheelchair on Thursday scooped 81.53 percent of the votes, compared with his main rival, Ali Benflis, who received 12.18 percent, Interior Minister Tayeb Belaiz told a news conference.

“The people have chosen freely, in a climate that was transparent and neutral,” Belaiz insisted.

Benflis, who had already cited “serious irregularities” across the country on polling day, swiftly refused to recognize Bouteflika’s re-election.

“Recognizing it would be complicit in fraud,” he told a news conference after the results were announced, condemning what he called “an alliance between fraud, suspicious money and the bought media.”

Bouteflika’s victory had been widely expected, with his supporters celebrating in Algiers after polls closed late Thursday, and the press anticipating his re-election on Friday before the results were announced.

It comes a year after Bouteflika suffered a stroke that confined him to hospital for three months.