"The portfolios of candidates for the July 4 election were rejected, the president is to reconvene the Election Commission," the council said in a statement, as quoted by the APS.
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Two little-known politicians, Abdelhakim Hamadi and Hamid Touahri, were reported in late May to have filed the documents to be registered as candidates at the last minute before the deadline, while all potential front-runners boycotted the procedure.
After the country’s longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down on 2 April amid the wave of rallies against his bid to seek fifth term in office, the speaker of the country's upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, who temporarily replaces president under constitution, set new presidential election for 4 July.
The demonstrators, who have continued their rallies, however, demanded that the 4 July presidential election be scrapped over mistrust of authorities and warned against installing a military rule in the country, given that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah is considered one of the main figures on the country’s political stage.
