Algerians Hold Local Elections amid Anger over Rising Prices

People walk past promotional banners for candidates in the upcoming municipality election in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/ Fateh Guidoum)
People walk past promotional banners for candidates in the upcoming municipality election in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/ Fateh Guidoum)
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Algerians Hold Local Elections amid Anger over Rising Prices

People walk past promotional banners for candidates in the upcoming municipality election in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/ Fateh Guidoum)
People walk past promotional banners for candidates in the upcoming municipality election in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/ Fateh Guidoum)

Algerians are voting Saturday to elect mayors and regional leaders amid widespread worry and frustration over rising prices for basic goods, housing and health care.

The government is hoping the election confirms support for President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who won election after his predecessor was ousted in 2019 by pro-democracy protests backed by the army chief. But many Algerians see Tebboune’s leadership as only a cosmetic change and are deeply disillusioned by politics.

Some 23 million registered voters are being asked to choose mayors and representatives in regional assemblies Saturday. More than 134,000 candidates are running for the various seats, The Associated Press said.

However, some 300,000 applications were rejected by electoral authorities, accused of being associated with criminal circles or “dirty money.” Opposition parties protested the move as unfair.

Turnout appeared low at voting stations Saturday morning in Algiers.

Candidates traveled in caravans to meet voters, but the campaign overall has met widespread indifference. Algerians “do not have the heart to vote when for the majority of them the daily bread and the carton of milk becomes problematic for them, because of the collapse of purchasing power,” said sociologist Nasser Djabbi.

The parliament, where Tebboune’s party has the most seats, recently voted for a 2022 budget that cuts subsidies on some basic goods and for housing, health and education. Teachers and unions have staged strikes in protest over rising prices.

The leader of the Jil Djadid (New Generation) party, urged voters to turn out, saying, “The higher the participation rate, the stronger and more legitimate will be the future elected officials to put their electoral program into action.”

But opposition leader Mohcine Bélabbas, president of the Rally for Culture and Democracy party, called the whole electoral process “illegal.”

The election is also taking place as Algeria’s relations with France and Morocco are currently facing unprecedented tension.



Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.