Algeria's president Tebboune joins opponents in claiming election irregularities

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00:00To talk a bit more about those results from Algeria, Mark Perelman is with me now.

00:04And Mark, let's talk first of all about this controversy, this apparent discrepancy

00:09in the figures from the election body. What's going on?

00:12Well, it's very strange, actually, because once the results were proclaimed 95%,

00:19a huge score for Abdelmojid Taboun, we had all the camps of the three candidates

00:27saying they were incoherent figures.

00:29Not so much about those results, but about the turnout, because the 95% was a given

00:36because the other potential contenders were pushed aside.

00:42And we really had media apparatus tightly controlled by the state.

00:47And so the overwhelming majority of Abdelmojid Taboun was to be expected.

00:52But the fact that he himself, as well as the two other candidates,

00:56saying they're incoherent results, it's because of the turnout.

00:59Because the real way for the Algerians to express themselves

01:03in those polls was whether or not to go to vote.

01:07And according to the calculations, we're more around 25% turnout,

01:14rather than the official figure of 40 or 42%.

01:20And so clearly, that's not good news for the regime,

01:25because it means that the people decided not to go to the polls

01:29because they thought the outcome was foretold.

01:33But also maybe and probably because they're not happy with the way

01:38this regime is handling the situation, the economic situation, the social situation.

01:43And obviously, the political situation, we'll have to see how this pans out.

01:48We can expect the heads of the Electoral Commission to be pushed aside

01:52and be punished for not doing well their homework.

01:55But clearly, the fact is that Abdelmojid Taboun has been overwhelmingly reelected

02:02in what has certainly not been a democratic vote.

02:05And I think when we talk about Algeria,

02:07it's sort of odd to talk about that country

02:09without talking about its relationship with France.

02:12France, of course, the former colonial power,

02:15Algeria was annexed to France for a long time.

02:18And look, it's been more than 60 years since Algeria won its independence.

02:22But the relationship is still crucial and it's still pretty rocky.

02:25Exceptional.

02:26These are the words used by the presidential palace here in France.

02:30They issued a statement saying, you know, that they welcome the results

02:34and that the relationship between France and Algeria was, quote unquote, exceptional.

02:39The problem being that for a few weeks, it's been exceptionally bad.

02:45Because during his first mandate, there was indeed a honeymoon

02:50between Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmojid Taboun.

02:53Emmanuel Macron went to Algeria.

02:55There were some declarations that we need to work together.

03:00The Algerian president was supposed to come to France

03:03on a state visit for several times.

03:04It was postponed, postponed, postponed.

03:07And again, until in the middle of the summer,

03:11the French president in a written letter at the end of July,

03:17writing to the king of Morocco, the archenemy of Algeria,

03:21saying that it is putrid territory between Morocco and Algeria,

03:26at least Algeria's ally, the Saharan region.

03:30Emmanuel Macron, for the first time, said that France believed the only basis

03:35for a solution was a Moroccan autonomy plan dating back from 2007.

03:41France, until now, had only said this was a basis for negotiation.

03:45But now by saying this was the basis,

03:48it showed that France was suddenly making a U-turn and siding with Morocco.

03:54As a result, Algeria recalled its ambassador to France,

03:57not for a consultation, but a proper withdrawal.

04:00So there is a crisis in Franco-Algerian relations as we speak.

04:05And so we'll have to see how this continues.

04:08Obviously, France will have very little to say about the current election

04:12because it knows that it is really a very sensitive country

04:16when you talk about Algeria here in France.

04:19All right. Thanks very much, Marc Perelman, for us there.

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