Violent protests erupted in the Algerian capital yesterday after the army favourite, Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was declared the winner of the country's one-man presidential race.
The six other candidates pulled out of the election just one day before, accusing the military of electoral fraud.
Algerian officials said Mr Bouteflika received 73.8 per cent of the vote in an election which was expected to receive little attention from voters. In the event, officials put the turnout at 60.3 per cent. Mr Bouteflika had promised that he would take office only if endorsed by a decisive majority from a high turnout.
The United States called the polls a lost opportunity for progress towards democracy. The State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, said the elections "might have represented a clear step forward on the path to democracy and political reform".
Although it held no surprises, the result sparked angry protests in the capital, with demonstrators chanting "The authorities are assassins" before police in full riot gear charged at the crowd.
Witnesses said several anti-Bouteflika demonstrators were wounded in clashes with the police.
Apart from the military endorsement, there were some shows of support for Mr Bouteflika among the city's business establishment and monied elite, some of whom toured Algiers sounding their car horns in celebration.
Despite the sense of duty that seems to have drawn many voters to the polls, there remains a general feeling of disaffection with national politics among ordinary citizens, particularly young Algerians, who see Mr Bouteflika as part of the military clique which has ruled Algeria since 1992.
That year, the military imposed its rule after cancelling general elections which the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win, thus plunging the country into bloody civil unrest.
The Ireland Algeria Solidarity Group said yesterday it had hoped that the election would have opened up Algeria to democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
"With the election now in ruins we demand that a new date be set for a presidential election based on transparency and freedom from fraud," the statement said.