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Thousands call for ‘second revolution’ in Algeria after disputed presidential election

THOUSANDS took to the streets across Algeria today as opposition groups vowed to continue the fight for “a second revolution” after the disputed presidential elections.

Former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected in a poll that was boycotted by the opposition groups who deemed the vote a sham.

All five candidates were associated to the corrupt former regime of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was ousted in April after 20 years in power.

On polling day thousands took to the streets in the capital Algiers while protesters forced voting stations to close in Bouira and the Berber region of Tizi Ouzou, where police used teargas to disperse the crowds.

Nine million Algerians were believed to have taken part in the poll, with election authorities stating that turnout was 41 per cent, compared with 52 per cent in 2014, the last election under Mr Bouteflika.

But many boycotted the vote, deeming the elections corrupt and designed to keep the former regime in power.

Video footage from Jijel, in Kabyle, showed people voting “as expected,” placing their votes in a garbage can. Kabyle is known as an anti-government bastion.

Private TV station En Nahar and TSA online news put Mr Tebboune ahead on 64 per cent of the vote, but there was no official response.

He was considered the favourite due to his close ties to the powerful head of Algeria’s armed forces Gaid al Salah.

Algeria has been rocked by a growing protest movement known as the Hirak, with opposition forces seeking to remove all of those associated with the Bouteflika regime.

In a bid to quell the movement, Mr Salah led an anti-corruption campaign from which he said nobody would be protected, no matter how high-profile they were.

It has seen leading figures from the regime jailed, including Said Bouteflika, the president’s younger brother and chief counsellor, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in September for “plotting against the state.”

But protesters have also demanded the resignation of Mr Salah, seeing him as part of the system. The army chief has led a clampdown on opposition leaders, targeting the country’s Berber minority.

Many have been jailed for displaying the Amazigh flag, which has been banned in public by Gen Salah. 

Opposition leaders, including revolutionary civil-war leader Lakhdar Bouregaa, have been jailed, with Gen Salah accused of “leading a counterrevolution.”

Protestors insisted the movement will continue. 

Riad Mekersi said: “We have toppled Bouteflika, and we will topple all the system’s men. We won’t give up.”

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