A hijacked video of the Algerian president has sparked racist comments online. In this video, Abdelmadjid Tebboune allegedly asked “Algerians in France to return to Algeria”. This false caption was superimposed on the excerpt of a speech by the president, delivered in Arabic. The video has been viewed more than 860,000 times on TikTok since it was uploaded on December 28 and is also circulating on X.
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This video contains an extract from the speech given by the Algerian president to the country’s parliamentarians on December 25, 2023. In this passage, which closes his speech a little over an hour and a half, Abdelmadjid Tebboune announces a measure in favor of Algerians living abroad: a 50% reduction on tickets to come to Algeria during the month of Ramadan. The head of state is not asking for a return of Algerians living abroad.
The president had already announced a reduction in the prices of plane and boat tickets for the last Ramadan, while the prices charged by the company Air Algérie during this period are regularly denounced, remember the L’Echo Tourist website.
It’s not just Algerians living abroad who are being offered a helping hand: the Algerian Football Federation announced Thursday that half of the price of tickets for supporters of the national team will be covered for go to Ivory Coast, the country which hosts the African Cup of Nations.
During his speech on December 25, an assessment after four years as president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune also recalled his abolition of income tax for low salaries. The president also recalled Algerian support for Palestine, underlines RFI.
The next presidential election in Algeria is due to take place in December 2024.