Mohamed Charafi, head of Algeria's National Electoral Commission, has vowed to "use a new mechanism" in elections scheduled for December 12th that "will prevent fraud."
During the commission’s meeting on Thursday, he said that a new mechanism against fraud would be adopted in the upcoming elections, refusing to give further details before the elections.
Charafi, who served twice as justice minister under former President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, also stressed that the "anti-counterfeiting mechanism has not been used in any other country."
“The election authority encountered great difficulties in the field, but this was something natural and had to be addressed,” he underlined, adding: “We have done this wisely thanks to a tight organization (of the preparations for the ballot), which enabled us to gain time because the deadlines are tight. ”
Meanwhile, demonstrators continue to organize protests twice a week (Tuesday for university students and Friday for the civil movement), to express their determination to reject the elections, and adhere to the demand for the release of detainees.
Security forces have reinforced their measures against Algeria’s weekly protests, which started in February. The National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees said that more than 80 people were being held by the authorities and demanded the release of “political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.”
