Algeria's Tebboune seeking second term five-year term as president, as elections approach

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Thursday that he will seek a second five-year term in an election set for September 7.

Tebboune, 78, was elected in 2019 with 58 percent of the vote, following months of pro-democracy protests.

"Given the desire of many parties, political and non-political organisations, and youth, I announce my intention to run for a second term," he said in an interview posted on the presidency's official Facebook page.

"All the victories achieved are the victories of the Algerian people, not mine," he said.

Tebboune announced in March that the presidential election will be held on September 7, three months ahead of schedule. He gave no reasons for the decision.

A former prime minister under longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was ousted during mass protests in 2019, Tebboune has overseen a crackdown on the Hirak movement that led the protests.

Taking advantage of the restrictions on gatherings required during the Covid pandemic, Tebboune's administration banned demonstrations by Hirak and stepped up prosecutions of dissident activists, journalists and academics.

In February, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said that five years after the pro-democracy protests erupted, Algerian authorities were still restricting the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In a report based on testimonies of detainees, families and lawyers, Amnesty said Algerian authorities had "escalated their repression of peaceful dissent" since the Hirak protests fizzled out in early 2020.

"It is a tragedy that five years after brave Algerians took to the streets in their masses to demand political change and reforms, the authorities have continued to wage a chilling campaign of repression," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director, Heba Morayef.