A voter casts her ballot in Benthala, about 19 miles south of the Algerian capital of Algiers. The presidential election is seen as a pivotal test of democracy for the country, which is struggling to emerge from a bloody 12-year Islamic uprising. Ballot results are expected today. (Michel Euler/The Associated Press) |
By Jamey Keaten
The Associated Press
ALGIERS, Algeria -- Supporters of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika flooded the streets of Algeria's capital Thursday, claiming victory in a presidential election that his rivals insisted was marred by fraud.
Riot police fired tear gas at opponents of Bouteflika who tried to hold a protest in downtown Algiers.
"They burned ballot boxes, harassed our election observers and blocked streets leading to the polls," said Ali Mimouni, a spokesman for former Prime Minister Ali Benflis. "That confirms the fraud we were expecting."
Official results were not expected until today. But many supporters of the president were already claiming victory.
The president's supporters said he was set to easily collect more than 50 percent of the overall vote, which would allow him to avoid a runoff in two weeks.
Supporters of the president blared car horns and brandished large photos of Bouteflika as they drove through town.
Many Algerians expressed hope that the vote would signal an important step toward democracy in an oil-rich country long dominated by the army and still struggling to emerge from a bloody 12-year Islamic uprising.
Voters turned out in about the same numbers as five years ago, when Bouteflika cruised to an easy victory after his rivals quit the race on the eve of the election, claiming fraud.
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The Interior Ministry said the national turnout rate was just under 58 percent, about 2 percentage points lower than in the previous presidential election.
Algerians face chronic housing shortages and unemployment rates of over 20 percent.
Bouteflika, a U.S. ally in the war on terror, has presided over a decline in bloodshed linked to an Islamic uprising that erupted in 1992 after the army canceled legislative elections that a militant Muslim party was poised to win. About 120,000 people were killed in the violence.
The president's backers say he was largely responsible for a decline in the violence and has returned a country long preoccupied with wrenching domestic ills onto the international stage.
Algeria's nearly 33 million people have lived under the shadow of the powerful military since independence from France in 1962. Its Islamic extremist movement has also increasingly become a source of terrorist activities in Europe and North America, and the movement is believed to feed international groups that have helped al-Qaida.
About 120 election observers, most from Africa and the Middle East, were on hand. There are about 18 million people of voting age.
In a joint statement earlier Thursday, Benflis and two other candidates claimed that Bouteflika intended "to announce victory in the first round with a percentage of 53 to 55 percent."
Critics charged that Bouteflika monopolized the airwaves on state-run TV and radio to build support. Independent newspapers echoed concerns about the prospect of fraud.
Aside from Bouteflika and Algeria's first head of state, Ahmed Ben Bella, all presidents have been former generals.
In an unprecedented move, the army vowed to remain neutral in the race. Soldiers for the first time were voting at regular polling stations, not military installations.
"This is the first time that we are voting in such an honest, fair manner," said Melek Fellous, 42, who owns a security company.
Fellous, a Bouteflika supporter, said he once backed the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front party, "but now I found a good president who loves his country."