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| - Algerians voted Sunday on a revised constitution the regime hopes will neutralise a protest movement which at its peak last year swept long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power. Bouteflika's successor Abdelmadjid Tebboune, currently hospitalised overseas, has pitched the text as meeting the demands of the youth-led Hirak movement, which staged vast demonstrations for more than a year until the coronavirus pandemic shut them down. The Hirak has called for a boycott of the vote on a text they call a "change of facade", which observers likewise say offers little new. "Nothing has changed. The ultra-presidential regime will stay," said Massensen Cherbi, a constitutional expert at Sciences Po university in Paris. Tebboune has placed Sunday's referendum at the forefront of efforts to turn the page on the Hirak, with state media campaigning for a resounding "yes" vote to usher in a "new Algeria". Supporters of a "no" vote have been banned from holding meetings, and few observers doubt that the text will pass. Early reports pointed to a very low turnout, reaching just 13 percent at 2:00 pm (1300GMT), according to the electoral commission's chairman, Mohamed Charfi. Tebboune said Saturday that Algerians will once again "have a rendezvous with history" to bring in a "new era capable of fulfilling the hopes of the nation and the aspirations of our people for a strong, modern and democratic state". The 74-year-old president is hospitalised in Germany amid reports of Covid-19 cases among his staff, and few details have been released on his condition. Seen by opponents as an old-school regime insider, Tebboune came to power following a December 2019 presidential poll marred by record abstentionism. The Hirak movement led calls for a boycott of that election, and even official data put turnout at less than 40 percent. Experts say the referendum is partly a bid by Tebboune for a more convincing validation at the ballot box. Some Algiers voters said they backed the new text. "I voted 'yes' so my country doesn't collapse," said Djillali Bouazza, a 78-year-old retiree. Rather than attacking the Hirak verbally, Tebboune has described it as a "blessed, authentic popular movement" and argued that the revised constitution meets its demands. But despite his conciliatory language, observers are sceptical, pointing to the president's extensive powers under the new the text -- as well as the way it was written. "The drafting and consultation process was highly controlled by the state," said Zaid al-Ali, a senior adviser on constitution building at International Idea. "It's hard to argue that the Hirak's demands for a fully inclusive debate on the state's constitution was respected." And while the new text lists purported guarantees of social and economic rights, Ali says these promises are hollow. Algeria, with a population of 44 million and vast oil reserves, has been battered by low crude prices and the coronavirus pandemic, further hurting a young population already suffering from spiralling unemployment. But some young people have backed the revised constitution. "I voted 'yes' because I support change," said trader Abdennour Gueniche, 34, after casting his ballot in Algiers. "I'm optimistic about the future... President Tebboune has promised to give young people an important place." Outside the capital, activists held isolated demonstrations and ripped up campaign posters, social media posts showed. In the traditionally restive Kabylie region, several booths were unable to open, local media reported. Others, like Ahmed Mohand, a man in his 80s in a suburb of Algiers, chose not to vote. "There are too many divisions surrounding this project," he said. To limit the spread of Covid-19, authorities restricted entry to polling stations to three people at a time, made mask-wearing mandatory and had curtains removed from booths to prevent voters from touching them. Tayeb Zitouni, head of the pro-government RND party, said the poll would see Algerians "launch the construction of a new Algeria." "It's now the people's turn to speak," he said after casting his vote. That rhetoric has been accompanied by a campaign of arrests against pro-Hirak activists, social media users and journalists, with around 90 currently behind bars, according to the CNLD, a prisoners' support group. Polling stations were set to close at 7 pm (1800 GMT). abh-agr/par/pjm/dwo
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