ALGIERS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) validated the candidacy requests of three individuals for the presidential election scheduled for September 7 in Algeria, state-run television ENTV reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Mohamed Chorfi, the head of ANIE, held a press briefing to unveil the list of candidates for the September elections.
He said that ANIE has approved the candidacies of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Secretary General of the Socialist Forces Front Youcef Aouchiche, and head of the Movement of Society for Peace Abdelaali Hassani Cherif, and deem them eligible as they met all the necessary requirements set forth by ANIE.
Under Algeria's electoral law, any candidate wishing to run must collect either 600 individual signatures from elected members of municipal, provincial, or parliamentary councils, or at least 50,000 signatures from eligible voters across at least 29 provinces, with a minimum 1,200 signatures in each province.
President Tebboune made the decision on March 21 to schedule snap presidential elections for September 7, citing "purely technical reasons". On July 11, he announced his intention to run for a second five-year term.
Over 24 million Algerian citizens, out of a total population of over 45 million, are eligible to participate in the upcoming elections. ■
