In recent weeks Rachid Nekkaz has travelled around Algeria to gather the necessary 60,000 voter signatures to join the race for the presidency, before appearing Sunday at the Constitutional Council to formally register as a candidate. Two hours after Nekkaz entered the Constitutional Council, another man left the building and introduced himself to the media as: “Rachid Nekkaz, candidate for the presidential (election)”. “Under that name he presented himself to the Constitutional Council with his application,” the official said. Nekkaz tried to stand in Algeria’s last presidential election in 2014, but said the 62,000 signatures gathered were stolen from within the Constitutional Council. Before renouncing his French citizenship, Nekkaz also tried his luck in France’s 2007 presidential elections.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 04, 2019 15:22 UTC