afrol News, 3 March - The Algerian constitutional council has announced six presidential election contenders for the April 2009 election. The official campaigning will begin on 19 March and lasts until 7 April.

The council president, Boualem Bessaih, said only six contenders of the 13 have met the constitutional requirements which requires candidates to get at least 600 signatures from elected officials and 75 000 from voters.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ms Louisa Hanoune, the two Islamist politicians, Mohammed Said and Djahid Younsie and Nationalists Moussa Touati and Fawzi Rebaine have been approved by the Constitutional Council for the 9 April polls.

However, opposition parties have reportedly claimed to boycott the coming elections, alleging that they are already rigged for Mr Bouteflika who will be seeking a third term in the elections but as an independent candidate.

The Algerian parliament last year approved and enacted the law that abolished term limits for presidents, giving the 71-year-old President Bouteflika a chance to tighten his grip on power.

His leadership has overseen a return to relative peace, though there has been a series of suicide bombings over the last two years blamed on militants linked to al-Qaeda.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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