Presidential Elections 2014: Algerians live an emergency state on the eve of April 17
الشروق أونلاين
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General Gaid Saleh, Chief of Staff.
Presidential Elections forced thousands of Algerian citizens, a day before the elections’ date, to swept shops, markets, post offices and oil stations to provide “ammunition”, fearing of an unrest after April 18, following the war of words between the Directorate of Bouteflika’s campaign and his rival Benflis.
State of emergency in the large cities, started one day before the elections, as thousands of Algerians rushed to the post offices, banks and markets, since the early hours, to buy all the requirements and provide “ammunition” for the maximum possible time fearing landslides after the presidential elections’ results, against the backdrop of the statements that were issued by the competitors for the presidency.
From Bab El Oued to Hussein Dey, and from Bouzareah passing down El Biar to the center of Algiers, this was the capital’s state since Wednesday, due to traffic congestion and significant crowding of Algerians.
Queues were not limited to banks and post offices, where Algerians went remarkably to withdraw their money, even all gas stations in Algiers noticed chains of cars that were aligned until the late hours of the night, despite the assurances that were provided by the company to provide NAFTAL gasoline throughout the election’s day.
We approached from a citizen to inquire about the reasons for overwhelming gas stations, but Mohammed answered; “As you know, the election campaign noticed skirmishes and some violence, and the recent statements and accusations between the candidates represent a real risk, and this forced me to go to the oil station. I waited since an hour, but long queues prevented me from waiting, as the rest of the days. I would like to provide all the needs, in order to avoid going out into the street starting from tomorrow, because I personally do not know how the situation will occur after the announcement of the results.”
