{"id":763457,"date":"2019-12-12T10:02:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T10:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2019\/12\/12\/algeria-holds-election-in-defiance-of-protest-movement\/"},"modified":"2019-12-12T10:02:32","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T10:02:32","slug":"algeria-holds-election-in-defiance-of-protest-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/12\/12\/algeria-holds-election-in-defiance-of-protest-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Algeria holds election in defiance of protest movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ALGIERS – Polls opened in Algeria on Thursday for a delayed presidential election that is opposed by a mass protest movement which wants the vote put off until the entire ruling elite steps down and the military quits politics.<\/p>\n

The army, the strongest political player, sees the vote as the only way to restore order in Africa’s largest country, a major natural gas supplier to Europe and home to 40 million people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Early in the morning, it was quiet at one central Algiers polling station, though police were patrolling the city’s streets on foot and in vehicles.<\/p>\n

“The country has entered a critical phase,” said Aziz Djibali, 56, who went to vote at a polling station near the prime minister’s office.<\/p>\n