Algerian electoral authorities began counting the votes

The polling stations of the legislative elections in Algeria began counting the votes in the committees after their closure on Thursday, amid fears of a small participation rate that could affect the credibility of the elections. Algerian voters voted for 462 members of parliament, out of 12,000 candidates representing 57 parties and free lists.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika voted Thursday, as he appeared in his wheelchair which he uses since he suffered from stroke in 2013. Bouteflika voted at the polling station at Al-Bashir Ibrahimi School in the central district of the Algerian capital of Abayar, and was accompanied by his brother.

Algeria’s Community of Peace, the largest organization of the Brotherhood of Algeria and the Change Front, led by former Minister Abdel Meguid Manassra, recorded six serious irregularities since the voting began. In a statement, the coalition called on the public authorities to intervene urgently to save the election process, which began quietly, but it witnessed later serious distortion at the end, which may undermine the credibility of Algerian elections.

One of the most blatant abuses recorded by the coalition is the collective vote of voters for the lists of the Algerian president's party and the illegal use of authorizations more than once. The coalition criticized the expulsion of representatives of some of the parties monitoring the operation, and the attacks against them from the supporters of the ruling party.

The statement came as Algerian governorate of Al Wadi witnessed increasing violation in coincidence with the Algerian parliamentary elections witnessed currently in the country, as the activists of Peace Community movement, related to Muslim Brotherhood, have been violently attacked by a number of young people loyal to the Algerian ruling party. The attack led to the injury of a number of the movement’s members who have been transferred to the hospitals to receive treatment.

The attack took place when members of Peace Community Movement were receiving election observation cards from the municipality of Rabah in the province of Al Wadi. After the attack, the movement’s activists organized a mass protest demanding the Algerian authorities, security forces and Independent High Electoral Commission to interfere and take serious decision against the violators.

The violation came hours after the threat launched by the ruling party’s candidate of Al Wadi governorate against the activists of Peace Community movement. He appeared in video while he was threatening his competitors and their supporters of death.

On his hand, leading member of Peace Community movement Noman Laoor said that the movement’s activists have clear evidences proving the authenticity of threats launched by the candidate of the ruling party in Al Wadi governorate. He added that the movement notified the Algerian security forces and the electoral commission over the attack that targeted its activists, saying that they decided to file a lawsuit before the country’s judicial authorities against the commission.

On his hand, Algeria’s Interior Minister Nour Al Din Badawy revealed that the participation rate in the parliamentary elections held on Thursday reached 15.58 percent, calling the citizens for participating in the current elections which enjoy great importance. He stressed, “The current elections come to respond to those people who raise skepticism over the unity of Algerian people.”

The highest participation rate was recorded in the southern governorates of Algeria, where the participation rate in the province of Tindouf reached 32.07 per cent at 1 pm, while in the southern province of Elysee, on the border with Libya, was 28.61 percent, followed by Tasselt by 27 per cent. However, the lowest percentage was recorded in the province of Bejaia of the Kabylie region in the eastern area of the country, where the participation rate in the current parliamentary elections was 8.24 percent.