Ahmad 
The leader of the Algerian Labor Party, Louisa Hanoun, decided to withdraw her candidacy from the presidential elections scheduled to be held next September 7, and to boycott the elections completely.
This decision came after she accused the Independent National Elections Authority of “total failure” in managing the signature collection process and indicated an intention to exclude her from the presidential race.
Hanoun confirmed in a statement posted on her party’s Facebook website that she would stop the campaign to collect voter recommendations and would not participate in the electoral campaign or the voting process.
She attributed the decision to the existence of serious information and facts that confirm the authority’s intention to confiscate the freedom to run for elections, without providing details about this information.
Hanoun, who previously ran for the presidential elections three times, described the problems she faces as purely political, not technical, and criticized the timing of the election campaign in August, which coincides with rising temperatures, which makes participation in the elections difficult and increases the alienation of the people.
She pointed out that these problems will make the elections a mere formality that deepens doubts and popular aversion, pointing to the unprecedented rate of abstention from voting in the 2019 presidential elections, which reached 39.8%.
Hanoun had announced when her party decided to nominate her last May that participation represented a “victory for democracy,” and that her electoral campaign would be offensive, not defensive, but she stressed on Saturday that participation in the elections did not reflect any illusions about the nature of the vote in light of the regressive and undemocratic legislative framework and general political conditions. Which is characterized by the closure of the political and media spheres.
For his part, outgoing President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (78 years old) announced his intention to run for a second presidential term, and the parties supporting him began a campaign to collect signatures in his favor.
It is noteworthy that Algerian law requires each candidate to collect 50,000 signatures from citizens registered on the electoral lists from at least 29 states, so that the number of signatures from each state is not less than 1,200 signatures, or to submit only 600 signatures from members of Parliament and local councils, before midday. Night of July 18.
Louisa Hanoun was imprisoned in May 2019 after being accused of “conspiracy” against the state and the army, and in 2021 the court issued a ruling acquitting her of this charge. Early presidential elections are scheduled to be held on September 7, three months before their scheduled date.
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