Potential Presidential Candidate in Algeria’s Vote Slams “Patch-up Politics”
(AWP) - The leader of an Algerian opposition party wishing to run against incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the next election, scheduled to take place by this year’s end, said that there was a need for a “real economic project,” and criticized the current “patch-up politics.”
Earlier this month, Zoubida Assoul, the leader of the Union for Change and Progress (UCP) Party, announced her plans to run against 78-year-old Tebboune, who was elected president five years ago following the late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned after mass protests against his rule.
Assoul, 68, is a lawyer and rights activist. She said that developments at home motivated her to run in the election.
“I have five reasons that I am motivated to run in the forthcoming presidential election, scheduled for December 2024. The first was the developments on our borders from the Sahel countries, or the international unrest the world has been going through. Our borders require strengthening and bolstering on the home front. The second reason is our country’s economic condition and the current patch-up politics,” Assoul said in an interview with the Arab World Press (AWP) at her office in Algiers on Monday.
“Until this day, we have failed to diversify a productive economy that would create jobs for our young people. We keep following up the authorities’ intransigence on pursuing these patch-up politics. We need to offer a genuine economic plan that would serve the homeland’s economy on one hand, and avoid brain drain from Algeria on the other,” she added.
Assoul referred to the “migration of efficient Algerians from the country,” noting that this was one of the motives behind her decision to run in the election.
“In recent years, we have noticed a huge number of Algerian men and women migrating from the homeland. The number grows annually. For me, this Algerian human capital flight is a serious motive for us to offer Algerians a project where they can stay in their homeland and make their dream of a better life in Algeria come true,” said Algeria’s first female presidential candidate.
Assoul told Algerians that they have a “golden opportunity.”
“I am telling Algerian men and women that today, we have a chance. Perhaps the presidential election scheduled for 2024 is a golden opportunity. Each citizen must have confidence in themselves. It is the citizens who have the ultimate power, as they are the ones who choose their own leader,” she said.
“The citizens must never miss this chance. They have to go to the polling stations and choose the candidate that they see as fit and efficient. They have to vote for the candidate that will offer something new in their service and in that of the homeland. The citizens must never relinquish this power in their hands, and must invest it in their own and the nation's interest. This is the best chance, and it must be seized. I tell the citizens, the future lies in our hands, and we only need to take the decision,” she elaborated.
So far, Tebboune has not officially announced a decision to run in the election, which is scheduled to be held in December. However, he hinted during a partisan convention this week that he was about to do so.
A candidate applying to the Algerian presidential election must have the signatures of 50,000 registered voters. According to the law, these signatures must be collected from 25 states, with a minimum number of 12 signatures required in each.
Assoul pointed out that Algerians are looking for an efficient politician who will offer a platform that is applied on the ground, not just sheer fanciful promises.
“There is no difference between a male or a female candidate. I believe we have gone beyond this matter in the 21st century. Algerian men and women are aware of what is going on in all countries of the world. They also know that the only criteria in the selection of all officials should be efficiency, merit and integrity,” she emphasized.