Polls opened in Algeria on Sunday, November 1 in a referendum on a revised constitution that’s painted as pro-democratic for imposing term limits and promising new civic freedoms.
The amendments limit the presidential tenure to two five-year terms and commit the president to choose a prime minister from the majority bloc in parliament, it also gives the head of state the power to appoint the governor of the central bank, the chief justice of the constitutional court, and four of its 12 members.
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The vote is being held on the 66th anniversary of Algeria’s war of independence from France. The revised draft is supported by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and the powerful military, who hope it will put an end to the pro-democracy protest movement that pushed out the nation’s long-serving, autocratic president Abdelaziz Bouteflika last year.
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