IUMS: Media has double standards when it comes to Algeria's elections 

Secretary-General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), Ali Mohieddine Al-Qaradaghi, yesterday criticised the “double standards” used by the international media while covering the legislative elections in Algeria.

Al-Qaradaghi wrote in a post on his official Facebook page that two days after holding the early legislative elections in Algeria “we note that if the winner of the elections would be the authoritarian and secular parties, most of the unjust pens would say that the most important thing is to obtain the majority of voters without paying attention to the voter turnout.”

The IUMS president added: “If Islamists win the elections, most of the voices in media outlets would say that the voters boycotted.”

“As you can see today in most Arab and foreign media, the headlines in most French newspapers and channels say that Algeria awaits the results of legislative elections boycotted by voters.”

READ: Arab Parliament congratulates Algeria on holding election

Only 30 percent of voters turned out in Algeria’s parliamentary elections on Saturday, according to the country’s election commission.

“Voter turnout in the polls reached 30.2%,” Mohamed Chorfi, chairman of the National Independent Election Authority, told state television.

More than 24 million voters were eligible to cast their vote in Saturday’s vote, the first since the departure of longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019 after mass protests against his 20-year rule.