Presidential elections were held in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

on 15 April 1999.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019. Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika s ...

was elected with 74% of the vote after the other six candidates withdrew on the eve of the elections.

Background

Incumbent president Liamine Zéroual announced in September 1998 that early presidential elections would be held in February 1999. He also said that he would not be a candidate, in a move which was reported as being due to infighting within the

Algerian army The People's National Army (PNA) () is the military of the Algerian republic. It is the direct successor of the National Liberation Army (ALN), the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front, which fought French colonial rule d ...

. The election date was later set for 15 April and the official campaign began on 25 March. The government set up the Independent National Commission for Monitoring the Presidential Election (CNISEP) to oversee the elections, and Zéroual called upon all government officials to remain neutral. The elections took place amidst a backdrop of continuing conflict in the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a 1992 Algerian coup d'état, coup negating an Islami ...

. Restoring peace to the country was the major election issue.

Candidates

The frontrunner was former

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was supported by much of the military and establishment. Bouteflika had the backing of the two main parties in the governing coalition and said that he would work to increase trust in the government and would not rule out talking to anyone. Pro-government newspapers described Bouteflika as the "national consensus candidate". The other candidates included

Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi (; born 5 January 1932) is an Algerian politician and intellectual. He is the son of Islamic theologian and renowned scholar Bachir Ibrahimi, and served in multiple ministerial roles in Algeria from the 1960s until the late ...

, a former education and foreign minister, who received backing from the outlawed

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front (; , FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representing its two bases of its support; Abbassi Madani appealed to pious small businessmen, and Ali Belhadj appealed to the a ...

(FIS). He supported talking with the FIS and for the military to withdraw from politics. Another candidate Abdallah Djaballah, the founder of the

Movement for National Reform The Movement for National Reform (; ) is a moderate Islamist political party in Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tuni ...

, called for a government of national unity to be formed. Two former

prime ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

were candidates. Mouloud Hamrouche, prime minister from 1989 to 1991 was a former member of the governing National Liberation Front (FLN) who had fallen out with the leaders of the party. Mokdad Sifi was prime minister from 1993 to 1995 and was backed by part of the National Rally for Democracy (RND) which did not support Bouteflika. He opposed an amnesty or negotiations with murderers of women and children. Youcef Khatib was an independent candidate and former advisor to Zéroual's 1995 election campaign.

Hocine Aït Ahmed Hocine Aït Ahmed (‎; 20 August 1926 – 23 December 2015) was an Algerian politician. He was founder and leader until 2009 of the historical political opposition in Algeria. The Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium, one of the largest stadiums by ...

, the founder of the

Socialist Forces Front The Socialist Forces Front (; ) is a social democratic and secularist political party, mainly supported by Berbers in Algeria. The FFS is a member of the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance. It led an unsuccessful rebellion agai ...

, campaigned by calling for Algeria to be neither a military dictatorship or

Islamic fundamentalist Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

state. Near the end of the campaign Ahmed had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and had to go to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

for treatment.

Mass withdrawal

Fewer than 24 hours before the elections, all candidates except Bouteflika withdrew, claiming the vote would not be fair. The candidates claimed that

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

by the army ensured that Bouteflika would win the election, and that voter lists were being padded and extra

ballot paper A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th centu ...

s being printed to support Bouteflika. The United States said they were disappointed with how the election occurred and was a 'step back' for democracy. Zéroual refused to meet the candidates to discuss their grievances and criticised them for withdrawing, describing the move as illegal.

Results

Official figures showed turnout to be 61% with Bouteflika winning easily. However, the other candidates claimed that turnout was much lower, with Ibrahimi estimating it had only been around 25%.

References

{{Algerian elections Algerian Civil War Presidential elections in Algeria

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

Algerian presidential election