ALGERIA: Algeria's first female Presidential candidate Louisa Hanoune casts ballot

Record ID: 573551

  • Title: ALGERIA: Algeria's first female Presidential candidate Louisa Hanoune casts ballot
  • Date: 10th April 2009
  • Summary: ALGIERS, ALGERIA (APRIL 9, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION WITH QUEUE (2 SHOTS) VOTING PAPER IN VOTER'S HAND QUEUE OUTSIDE POLLING STATION (SOUNDBITE) (French) FEMALE VOTER, ZINA ROCAB SAYING: "I expect a lot, I expect a change. We have security with Bouteflika, we have it, which we didn't before, so I expect employment for the young. That is very important because there is a lot of unemployment in Algeria, and lots of good fortune." BALLOT PAPER SHOWING A PICTURE OF ALGERIA'S OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOUISA HANOUNE BALLOT PAPER SHOWING A PICTURE OF ALGERIAN PRESIDENT ABDELAZIZ BOUTEFLIKA CANDIDATES' PHOTOS ON BALLOT PAPERS VARIOUS OF WOMEN VOTING +++FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY+++ HANOUNE ARRIVING HANOUNE REGISTERING PHOTOGRAPHERS WAITING HANOUNE GOING INTO VOTING BOOTH VARIOUS OF HANOUNE VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (French) ALGERIA'S OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOUISA HANOUNE SAYING: "We want our country to pick up, and this morning I can see with my own eyes that the tomorrow I spoke of has become a reality. The majority of voters, particularly the young want to have their say, they want to say that that is enough. And the majority of voters were born after 1962 and after that we had the issue of rejuvenation and the rupture with the one-party system." VEILED WOMAN VOTING WOMAN COLLECTING HER BALLOT PAPERS WOMAN VOTING
  • Embargoed: 25th April 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Algeria
  • Country: Algeria
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA7UJ3LWV5OTUMXYMJK6L57VUQ
  • Story Text: Algeria's first female presidential candidate, Louisa Hanoune casts her vote in a presidential election which opponents of incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika say is a charade.
    Algerian presidential candidate Louisa Hanoune cast her vote in the country's election on Thursday (April 9), the only woman to run for the position.
    Hanoune is the leader of the Algerian Worker's Party (Parti Travailliste) and was also the first Algerian woman to run for president in the country's 2004 election.
    Incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to win by a big margin, but if voters stay away from the polls that could boost opponents who say the vote is a charade.
    It might be the second time that Algeria has had a female presidential candidate - one of the few countries in the Arab world - but while conditions for women are improving in Algeria, Hanoune believes it still has a long way to go.
    Equality of the sexes is enshrined in Algeria's constitution, but it is a very conservative society where women take second place, and illiteracy among women in 2007 was twice as high as amongst men. In 2004 Hanoune received only 1 percent of the vote.
    According to a recent study by the National Economic and Social Council, while more and more women are focusing on their studies and their careers in Algeria and the average age of marriage rose from 18 in 1966 to 31 in 2008, female politicians still make up only seven percent of parliament. No female politicians chair committees, and only three government ministers are women.
    Hanoune announced her candidacy under the slogan: "Popular Autonomy Safeguards National Autonomy", trying to quell criticism that the 2009 election results were a foregone conclusion.
    "We want our country to pick up, and this morning I can see with my own eyes that the tomorrow I spoke of has become a reality," she said after casting her vote in Algiers on Thursday.
    "The majority of voters, particularly the young want to have their say, they want to say that that is enough. And the majority of voters were born after 1962 and after that we had the issue of rejuvenation and the rupture with the one-party system," she said.
    No weighty opponent has emerged to challenge the head of state, who is widely tipped to win the election and stay in power until 2014. As the only woman in the presidential race, Hanoune is the only other candidate being discussed.
    The lack of serious challengers has prompted some government critics to predict that Algerians will boycott the polls in protest at what they see as a meaningless exercise. In turn, the government has launched a campaign to encourage Algerians to use their vote.
    Hanoune will be hoping that the traditionally high self-interest of women voters might be in her favour.
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