5 candidates approved to run for Algerian presidential elections

Mohamed Chorfi, head of the Algerian Independent Election Monitoring Authority (NIEMA), speaks at a press conference in Algiers, Algeria, on Nov. 2, 2019. The Algerian Independent Election Monitoring Authority (NIEMA) on Saturday announced that five candidates out of 23 have been approved to run for the presidential election on Dec. 12. (Xinhua)

ALGIERS, Nov. 2 -- The Algerian Independent Election Monitoring Authority (NIEMA) on Saturday announced that five candidates out of 23 have been approved to run for the presidential election on Dec. 12.

Mohamed Chorfi, head of the NIEMA, told a press conference that his authority examined files of 23 potential candidates, and finally validated five of them as they met the conditions set by the electoral law.

The approved candidates include Azzedine Mihoubi, interim secretary general of the ex-ruling party of the National Democratic Rally (RND) and former minister of culture, and Abdelkader Bengrina, a former minister and head of the Construction Movement, Chorfi added.

Former Prime Ministers Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Ali Benflis, and Secretary General of the Front of the Future Abdelaziz Belaid will also run for the election.

The rejected candidates have the right to appeal within 48 hours.

In September, interim Algerian President Abdelkader Bensalah announced that the presidential elections are scheduled for Dec. 12.

Algerians have mixed views on the presidential polls. Some believe that elections are the only way to end political crisis which has been gripping the nation since Feb. 22, while some are still requiring the departure of all symbols of the regime of the ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika before holding elections.

The wide-scale protest movement since Feb. 22 forced Bouteflika to resign on April 2.