Algerians vote on constitution with President Tebboune at German coronavirus treatment hospital
Voting opened in Algeria on Sunday in a referendum on constitutional change led by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and the powerful military as a way to turn the tide to last year’s popular unrest.
The referendum is seen as a test of strength for both Tebboune and the leaderless opposition “Hirak” protest movement, which took thousands of people to the streets every week to demand radical change, and which rejected the vote.
Tebboune, who has been in hospital in Germany since last week after saying that assistants had tested positive for COVID-19, has pushed for a large turnout, which would show popular support for his strategy to move on from the demonstrations.
In a statement late Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of Algeria’s independence from France, read out on his behalf due to his absence in Germany, he once again urged people to vote.
However, there was little clear enthusiasm for the vote on Sunday morning under severe health conditions due to the global pandemic.
“There is no point in voting. This constitution will not change anything,” said 30-year-old bus driver Hassan Rabia, who was sitting with two friends at a café in central Algiers.
At the Ali Chekir school in Ouled Fayet west of Algiers, about ten people were waiting to vote. “Let’s hope for the better and pray for Tebboune’s speedy recovery,” said Ahmed Slimane, 60.
Referring to Tebboune’s hospital stay in Germany, a cartoon in the newspaper Wat Watan showed a man standing at a polling station sweating and watching votes marked “yes” and “no” in German rather than in Algeria’s official languages in Arabic and French.
Tebboune has presented the changes to at least partially address the wishes of the protesters who last year forced their predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign after 20 years in office.
But their demands – to replace the ruling elite that has ruled since independence in 1963, the military’s withdrawal from politics and an end to corruption – have at best only been partially met.
Many of Bouteflika’s closest allies and other top officials, including his brother Said and former intelligence officer Mohamed Mediene, as well as big businessmen, have been jailed on corruption charges.
The new constitution contains presidential boundaries and more powers for parliament and the judiciary.
However, the military is still the most powerful institution in Algerian politics, although it has played a less prominent role since Tebboune’s election.
The new constitution gives it a new power – the right to intervene outside Algeria’s borders under certain conditions, with the generals worried about insecurity in neighboring Libya and Mali.
