Algeria votes for president this weekend but with inflation and boycott, few appear to care

Algeria’s president seeks a second term in the gas-rich North African country’s election this weekend. But prospective voters say they are more concerned about inflation’s effects on the spiking prices of school supplies, potatoes and coffee. The malaise is a far cry from the hopes of 2019, when pro-democracy activists called for broad, structural changes to Algeria’s military-dominated political system after the country’s then-octogenarian president resigned under pressure. This time, there’s an emerging feeling among Algerians that the election has not sparked an earnest political debate. And activists and others have reported repression of perceived dissent.