Presidential elections were held in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 8 April 2004.Election for President
IFES Incumbent President

Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ar, عبد العزيز بوتفليقة, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Būtaflīqa ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as President of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019 ...

was re-elected with 85% of the vote.

Candidates

Ali Benflis Ali Benflis ( ar, على بن فليس ; born 8 September 1944) is an Algerian politician who was Head of Government of Algeria from 2000 to 2004. In 2003, he became the general secretary of the National Liberation Front party. Benflis was a ca ...

, candidate of the National Liberation Front (FLN) *

, candidate of a coalition including the Movement for the Society of Peace (MSP) and the National Rally for Democracy Assembly (RND), as well as a dissident faction of the National Liberation Front (FLN) *

Abdallah Djaballah Saad Abdallah Djaballah ( ar, سعد عبدالله جاب الله (born on May 2, 1956) in Skikda) is an Algerian politician and leader of the Movement for National Reform (''Ḥarakat al-Iṣlāḥ al-Waṭaniyy'', also known as the ''MRN'' and ...

, candidate of the

Movement for National Reform The Movement for National Reform (; french: Mouvement pour la réforme nationale) is a moderate Islamist political party in Algeria. It received 9.5% of the vote in the 2002 elections and received 43 members of parliament. The party was created ...

Ali Fawzi Rebaine Ali Fawzi Rebaine ( ar, علي فوزي رباعين) (born 24 January 1955 in Algiers) is the leader of the Ahd 54 political party in Algeria. He is an optician and human rights-activist, and claims to have founded Algeria's first independent h ...

, candidate of the

Ahd 54 Ahd 54 ( ar, عهد 54), "Generation of '54", is a minor Algerian party led by human rights-activist Ali Fawzi Rebaine, who claims to have founded the first Algerian human rights organization. Its name is an allusion to the start of the Algerian ...

Party *

Louisa Hanoune Louisa Hanoune ( ar, لويزة حنون; born 7 April 1954) is the head of Algeria's Workers' Party (Parti des Travailleurs, PT). In 2004, she became the first woman to run for President of Algeria. Hanoune was imprisoned by the government seve ...

, candidate of the Workers' Party * Said Sadi, candidate of the

Rally for Culture and Democracy The Rally for Culture and Democracy ( ber, Agraw i Yidles d Tugdut; ar, التجمع من أجل الثقافة والديمقراطية; french: Rassemblement pour la Culture et la Démocratie, RCD) is a political party in Algeria. It promotes ...

Conduct

There were about 130 official foreign observers in Algeria for these elections, which followed more than a decade of

civil conflict A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

. Delegations of observers came from the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

, the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

and the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE). An OSCE spokesman said its small

election monitoring Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...

team observed no obvious

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 of ...

, and that the election, while not perfect, was excellent by regional standards and that it is "pretty clear" the results reflected the views of the Algerian people. However, the Kabyle population boycotted the elections following the

Arouch The Arouch Movement or Berber Arouch Citizens' Movement ( Kabyle: Leɛṛac; French: ''Mouvement citoyen des Aarchs'') is an organization in Algeria representing the Kabyle people, a Berber group of the province of Kabylie. Their name, ''Arouch'', ...

directives, only 10% (officially) of them went to vote.

Results

References

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

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 ...

Presidential elections in Algeria April 2004 events in Africa {{Algeria-election-stub