Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner

Algerian president and candidate for re-election Abdelmajid Tebboune speaks after casting his ballot inside a polling station during the presidential elections, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Algiers, Algeria. (AP)
Algerian president and candidate for re-election Abdelmajid Tebboune speaks after casting his ballot inside a polling station during the presidential elections, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Algiers, Algeria. (AP)
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Updated 09 September 2024
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Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner

Algeria’s president joins opponents in claiming election irregularities after being named the winner
  • The tally reported on Sunday gave Tebboune a total vote share that was far more than the 87 percent that Vladimir Putin won in Russia’s March elections and the 92 percent that Ilham Aliyev got in Azerbaijan’s February contest

ALGIERS, Algeria: After being declared the winner of Algeria’s election, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined his two challengers in criticizing the country’s election authority for announcing results that contradicted earlier turnout figures and local tallies.
The claims of irregularities mar what had earlier appeared to be a landslide victory for the 78-year-old head of state.
The country’s independent election authority on Sunday announced that Tebboune had won 94.7 percent of Saturday’s vote, far outpacing his challengers Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who received only 3.2 percent and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who got just 2.2 percent.
Hours later, Tebboune joined his opponents in questioning the reported results with the three campaigns jointly issuing a statement accusing the country’s election chairman of announcing contradictory results.
In a country where elections have historically been carefully choreographed affairs, such astonishing questions about irregularities shocked Algerians who expected Tebboune to win in a relatively uneventful fashion.
It’s unclear what will follow all three candidates casting doubt on irregularities and whether they will prompt legal challenges or delay the final certification of the result.
The tally reported on Sunday gave Tebboune a total vote share that was far more than the 87 percent that Vladimir Putin won in Russia’s March elections and the 92 percent that Ilham Aliyev got in Azerbaijan’s February contest.
But efforts from Tebboune and members of his government to encourage voter turnout to project legitimacy appeared to have fallen short, with less than one out of every four voters participating.
Election officials on Sunday reported 5.6 million of the country’s roughly 24 million voters had turned out to vote. Such high abstention rates, which remain unofficial, would surpass the 2019 presidential election when 39.9 percent of the electorate participated.
Officials did not explain why they had earlier announced 48 percent voter turnout at the time of polls closing. Before the three candidates joined in questioning the discrepancy, both of Tebboune’s challengers raised questions about it, citing their own tallies.
Aouchiche called it “strange.” Ahmed Sadok, Cherif’s campaign manager, blasted delays and the way the figure was calculated.
“It’s a shame. It’s an attack on the image of Algeria, which will become the laughing stock of nations,” Sadok said earlier in the day.
He also said there had been a failure to deliver vote-sorting records to the candidates’ representatives and that said the party had recorded instances of proxy group voting and pressure put on poll workers to inflate certain figures.
Claims of irregularities cap off an election season that outraged activists and civil society groups. Human rights advocates railed against the campaign season’s repressive atmosphere and the harassment and prosecutions of those involved in opposition parties, media organizations and civil society groups.
Some denounced this election as a rubber stamp exercise that can only entrench the status quo. Amnesty International last week condemned Algeria’s “brutal crackdown on human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association in the run up to the country’s presidential elections.”
Before the candidates questioned the results, Tebboune’s supporters and detractors each had drawn conclusions from the results.
Pro-Tebboune university professor Abdellaoui Djazouli said on public television that the result was a resounding endorsement of Tebboune’s program.
“The president has more legitimacy to continue his action to better establish his project for the new Algeria,” he said on public television.
But his runaway victory fueled criticism from pro-democracy activists who have long seen elections as tools that the country’s political elites have used to give off an appearance of popular support.
Many said the loudest message to come out of the election came from those who chose to abstain out of fear that the election would only entrench and legitimize “le pouvoir” — a term used to describe the military-backed elites who run the country.
“The vast majority of the Algerian people have just given ‘le pouvoir’ a lesson in democracy,” said Nassira Amour, a teacher and leading figure from Algeria’s pro-democracy movement.
“The majority did not vote ... This electoral masquerade is a victory for the Hirak,” Amour added, referencing the pro-democracy movement that swept the country in 2019.
That year, after Hirak protesters flooded the streets of Algerian cities, the military ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after two decades in power. The interim government that replaced him heeded calls from military leaders to hold elections later that year, angering protesters who saw expediting elections as a way to calm discontent and sidestep demands for civilian-led, non-military rule.
Tebboune, considered the military’s candidate, won his first-term in a widely boycotted election during which crowds sacked voting stations and police broke up demonstrations. Despite his early overtures and pledges to listen and usher in a “New Algeria,” Hirak protesters continued weekly demonstrations demanding deeper reforms.
Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it’s the continent’s second most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 — a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population.

 


EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says

EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says
Updated 7 sec ago
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EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says

EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says
  • Benjamin Netanyahu earlier called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL ‘from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones’
  • European nations contribute about 3,600 troops to the 10,000-strong UNIFIL force in Lebanon
BRUSSELS: European Union countries that contribute to UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Lebanon have no intention of pulling back from the south of the country despite Israeli calls to do so, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said.
Since an Israeli ground operation against Hezbollah militants began on Oct. 1, UNIFIL positions have come under fire and two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of one of its bases, the UN says. Five peacekeepers have been injured.
Sixteen EU countries, including Austria, contribute to UNIFIL and the recent incidents have sparked widespread alarm among European governments.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL “from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”
But Schallenberg, summarizing a discussion among EU foreign ministers on Monday, said European nations were not minded to pull troops back or out.
“There was no debate about pulling back or whatever,” he said in an interview in Brussels.
“They are there to stay but the security and the safety of our troops is paramount and has to be ensured by everybody,” said Schallenberg, whose country has about 160 soldiers in UNIFIL.
European nations contribute about 3,600 troops to the 10,000-strong force.
EU contributors plan to hold a video call on Wednesday on their current posture and the longer-term role of the mission when it comes to troop levels, equipment and rules of engagement, according to European officials.
Israeli officials have said their forces are not deliberately targeting UNIFIL but Hezbollah has used peacekeepers’ positions as cover for attacks and Israel has a right to respond.
Schallenberg said Israel had a right to defend itself against Hezbollah but even unintentional attacks on peacekeeping positions were a breach of international law.
“There’s a clear demand on Israel to be very cautious on this,” he said in the interview, which took place late on Tuesday afternoon.

Israel strikes southern Beirut after rejecting ceasefire

Israel strikes southern Beirut after rejecting ceasefire
Updated 18 min 7 sec ago
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Israel strikes southern Beirut after rejecting ceasefire

Israel strikes southern Beirut after rejecting ceasefire
  • Beirut’s Haret Hreik area targeted, which followed an Israeli military warning for residents to evacuate
  • The US ramps up pressure on Israel, criticizing the bombing of Beirut

BEIRUT: The Israeli military launched strikes in southern Beirut on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it would leave Hezbollah forces near his country’s border.

An AFP journalist saw black smoke rising from Beirut’s Haret Hreik area after two strikes, which followed an Israeli military warning for residents to evacuate.

One of the strikes targeted weapons “stockpiled by Hezbollah in an underground storage facility,” the military said.

Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the offensive came as the United States ramped up pressure on Israel, criticizing the bombing of Beirut and urging more aid access for Gazans.

In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu said he was “opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was,” according to his office.

Israel insists it needs a buffer zone along its northern border, free of Hezbollah fighters.

“Netanyahu clarified that Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this (a buffer zone) and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping,” the statement said.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, said the only solution was a ceasefire while threatening to expand its missile strikes across Israel.

“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place” in Israel, he said.

Early Wednesday Israel’s military said about 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the country’s north, without any reports of casualties.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it launched several salvos of rockets on northern Israel and army positions.

The Israeli military said it had “eliminated dozens of terrorists during exchanges of fire and aerial strikes” in Lebanon.

Israel bombed several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, including in the Bekaa Valley, where a hospital was knocked out of service, the official National News Agency reported.

The Israeli military said it had captured three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported nine deaths from strikes on the country’s south, and five more in the east, including three children.

The US State Department criticized Israeli strikes.

“We have made clear that we are opposed to the campaign the way we’ve seen it conducted over the past weeks” in Beirut, said spokesman Matthew Miller.

In a letter to Israel’s government on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned US weapons deliveries to Israel could be withheld unless more aid reaches Gazans.

The letter made clear “there are changes that they need to make again to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today,” Miller said.

The United Nations warned restrictions on aid to Gaza were the worst since Israel’s offensive on Hamas began in October last year.

“We see now what is probably the worst restrictions we’ve seen on humanitarian aid, ever,” said James Elder, a spokesman for the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF, noting there were several days where no trucks were allowed into Gaza.

Israeli forces have been conducting air and ground assaults on northern Gaza and Jabalia, amid claims Hamas militants were regrouping in the area.

“The whole area has been reduced to ashes,” said Rana Abdel Majid, 38, from northern Gaza’s Al-Faluja area, describing the “indiscriminate, merciless bombing” that has levelled entire blocks.

Israel’s military said it had “eliminated over 50 terrorists in close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes” in Jabalia during the past day.

At a shelter hit by an Israeli strike in the central Nuseirat camp, Fatima Al-Azab said: “There is no safety anywhere.”

“They are all children, sleeping in the covers, all burned and cut up,” she said.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures, including hostages killed in captivity.

The Israeli campaign has killed 42,344 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.

Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon from September 23, launching a ground offensive a week later to push the group back from its northern border.

Hezbollah has fired thousands of projectiles into Israel over the past year in support of Hamas, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis.

At least 1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel intensified its bombing last month, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

The war in Lebanon, which has suffered years of economic crisis, has displaced at least 690,000 people, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration.

Israel is also weighing how to respond to Iran’s launch of about 200 missiles at the country on October 1.

Netanyahu’s office said Israel — and not its top ally the United States — would decide how to strike back.

“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest,” it said.

Iran’s top diplomat told UN chief Antonio Guterres his country was ready for a “decisive and regretful” response if Israel attacks, his office said.

The Iranian barrage was in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another that killed Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan on September 27.


Jordan, Turkiye urge action against Israeli war on Gaza, Lebanon

Jordan, Turkiye urge action against Israeli war on Gaza, Lebanon
Updated 54 min 31 sec ago
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Jordan, Turkiye urge action against Israeli war on Gaza, Lebanon

Jordan, Turkiye urge action against Israeli war on Gaza, Lebanon

CAIRO: Jordan and Turkiye have continued to urge action to stop the Israeli war on Gaza and the conflict in Lebanon.
Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan have agreed in Ankara on the priority of stopping the Israeli war on Gaza, according to Petra News Agency. 
Safadi said on Tuesday: “We are continuing our joint coordination and permanent cooperation to achieve our goal of stopping the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon and achieving a just and comprehensive peace.”
He said “all indications show that Israel wants to empty northern Gaza of its residents by targeting hospitals and even the only operating bakery in northern Gaza,” adding, “This is a war crime, whether in preventing food and medicine from reaching Gaza or using starvation as a weapon. Israel’s ethnic cleansing is also another war crime.”
On Israel’s war in Lebanon, Safadi said: “We see the Israeli aggression continuing, and what happened proves that what Israel wants is far beyond what it claims to guarantee its security
Meanwhile, Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus has decried what he termed an “artificial intelligence-assisted genocide” in Gaza during a speech he delivered in Geneva.
“We are dismayed by the ongoing artificial intelligence-assisted genocide in Gaza,” Kurtulmus said, as cited by Hurriyet Daily News.
“We are appalled by reports revealing how technology is being intentionally misused by Israel to conduct indiscriminate attacks on civilians.”
The speaker condemned what he called “techno-brutality,” and spoke on the impact of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza using these technologies, which have led to “the atrocities of catastrophic proportions and the scale of mass destruction.”


Iran warns of ‘decisive’ response if Israel strikes, urges UN action

Iran warns of ‘decisive’ response if Israel strikes, urges UN action
Updated 22 min 49 sec ago
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Iran warns of ‘decisive’ response if Israel strikes, urges UN action

Iran warns of ‘decisive’ response if Israel strikes, urges UN action
  • Tehran fired about 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in revenge for the killing of two of its closest allies
  • ‘Iran ... is fully prepared for a decisive and regretful response to any adventures’

TEHRAN: Iran’s top diplomat has warned UN chief Antonio Guterres that Tehran is ready for a “decisive and regretful” response if Israel attacks his country in retaliation for a missile attack.

The Islamic republic fired about 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in revenge for the killing of two of its closest allies, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as an Iranian general.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed last week that his country’s retaliatory measure would be “deadly, precise and surprising.”

“Iran, while making all-out efforts to protect the peace and security of the region, is fully prepared for a decisive and regretful response to any adventures” by Israel, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a phone call with Guterres, according to a statement from his office on Wednesday.

During the call on Tuesday evening, Araghchi also appealed to the United Nations to use its resources “to stop the crimes and aggressions of the Israeli regime and to send humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Gaza.”

Over the past week, the Iranian foreign minister has visited Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Oman in an effort to ease tensions.

Araghchi arrived in Jordan on Wednesday before traveling to Egypt and Turkiye, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a post on social media platform X.

The developments come against the backdrop of a war between Israel and Iran-allied Palestinian militant group Hamas that has been raging for more than a year and has expanded to include Lebanon in recent weeks.


Israeli military says 50 projectiles fired from Lebanon

Israeli military says 50 projectiles fired from Lebanon
Updated 16 October 2024
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Israeli military says 50 projectiles fired from Lebanon

Israeli military says 50 projectiles fired from Lebanon

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said around 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the country’s north early Wednesday, without any reports of casualties.
“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified in the area,” a military statement said, while Hezbollah said it launched “a large salvo of missiles” at the town of Safed.