Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Bouteflika's re-election by a landslide appeared to strongly endorse his efforts to raise Algeria's profile internationally and quell the 12-year insurgency that has claimed an estimated 120,000 lives.

The Interior Ministry said Bouteflika won his second five-year term with 83 percent of the April 8 vote. His bitter rival -- former Prime Minister Ali Benflis -- was a distant second, with just 8 percent.

Benflis cried foul, alleging irregularities "in thousands of polling stations across the country," and vowed to appeal to the Constitutional Council that validates electoral results.

"Never, even under one-party rule, has Algeria seen such a sham election," said Benflis, prime minister from August 2000 until Bouteflika sacked him last May.

But international observers hailed the vote as one of the Arab world's best and a major sign of progress toward reform.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 17, 2004
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