(16 Apr 1999) French/Nat
Algerians voted on Thursday in a presidential election condemned by many as a farce.
Six of the seven contenders withdrew from the race on Wednesday complaining of widespread vote-rigging and fraud.
Algerians were to elect their first civilian president since the nation's first president was ousted in a military coup.
But the remaining candidate is seen as a figure of the old regime that has squandered huge oil wealth and left the country's youth angry and disillusioned.
Algeria, Africa's second largest country, used to have an economy that was the envy of the continent.
At the start of the 1980s Algeria earned 12 (b) billion U-S dollars a year from oil and gas.
That accounted for some 97 percent of its export income.
Then its oil bonanza was cut in half and country's infrastructure, which included ship yards like these, was allowed to fall into disrepair.
It now has a 33 (b) billion U-S dollar foreign debt and unemployment has soared to 28 percent.
So the man set to become the country's new president is courting foreign investors.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"I guarantee that if foreigners invest their money here, even if it's black market money, provided it helps create jobs for Algerians, provide it helps us be more competitive , then they will be welcome here."
SUPER CAPTION: Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Leading presidential candidate
Bouteflika has been dubbed the "candidate of consensus" because of his broad support within the establishment.
The No. 2 man under President Houari Boumediene in the 1970s, has for months been the source of discord.
Critics claim he will perpetuate a system that has squandered the resources of this nation rich in oil and natural gas.
Many ordinary workers like those at this pharmaceutical plant in the Algerian capital Algiers are hoping for a change.
While neighbouring countries have capitalised on the global boom in tourism, Algeria has been wracked by violence.
Some 75-thousand people have been killed in an Islamist insurgency since the army stepped in to cancel elections in 1992 that looked certain to be won by Islamic extremists.
This factory's Managing Director Achmed Morseli believes a change would give the stagnant Algerian economy new impetus.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"It's an export policy by our partners towards our neighbours, notably Morocco. Ultimately it's a desire shared by all our partners to achieve economic success in Algeria."
SUPER CAPTION: Achmed Morseli, Managing Director, Laboratoire Pharmaceutique Algerie
Most Algerians blame the government for helping breed a culture of corruption and for creating soaring unemployment.
But jobless Algerians are sceptical about whether Thursday's elections will make any difference.
Now the race has descended into what one local newspaper has described as the "bizarre" situation of multi-party elections, featuring only one party.
On Wednesday all candidates but Bouteflika, the most controversial, withdrew from the contest claiming electoral fraud in early voting.
Bouteflika has the backing of the powerful military, seen by many as being at the root of Algeria's problems.
That can only increase the widespread despair felt among Algerian youth.
Rising unemployment and an increasing gap between the country's rich elite and the poor majority has left the country plagued by mistrust.
What's more corruption is pervasive in almost all areas of the society.
There had been hope that this election could reinvigorate Algeria.
But the unprecedented predicament has shocked and angered many Algerians.
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