ALGIERS
Incumbent Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika won a fourth consecutive five-year term as president with 81.53 percent of the vote in Thursday's presidential polls, Interior Minister Tayeb Belaiz said Friday.
"The vote count shows that… Bouteflika secured 8.3 million votes, representing 81.53 percent of the vote," Belaiz told a press conference in Algiers.
Former prime minister Ali Benflis came in second with 1.24 million votes (12.1 percent), followed by Abdelaziz Belaid with 343,624 votes (3.36 percent), according to Belaiz.
He stressed, however, that these figures were preliminary results, adding that a final tally would be announced later by the Algerian Constitutional Council.
According to the minister, voter turnout stood at 51.1 percent, representing some 11.3 million of roughly 22.9 million eligible voters.
Bouteflika, 77, who cast his ballot from a wheelchair on Thursday, had been widely expected to win the election despite widespread concerns about the state of his health and opposition calls for a new head of state.
By Abderrazek Ben Abdullah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
