Algeria's ruling FLN secures most seats in parliament with historically low turnout
Only 21% of Algeria's 25 million eligible voters cast ballots in the July 2 legislative elections, the lowest turnout ever. The ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) won 90 of the 407 seats.
Algeria's legislative elections held on July 2 recorded a historically low voter turnout of just 21 percent of the 25-million-strong electorate, according to the election board's announcement on Monday. The incumbent National Liberation Front (FLN) won the most seats, securing 90 out of parliament's 407 seats.
Karim Khelfane, the interim head of the National Independent Elections Authority (ANIE), stated that the high abstention rate was "not specific to Algeria" and praised the elections as transparent. However, the vote was marred by public apathy and controversy over the government's disqualification of roughly a third of would-be candidates.
The previous low turnout record was 23 percent in the 2021 election, the first since the major pro-democracy Hirak protest movement swept through the country in 2019. The Hirak movement began in February 2019 and led to the resignation of long-serving President Abdelaziz Bouteflika two months later. Protests stalled in 2020 amid COVID-19 restrictions and increased repression of Hirak activists, political opponents, journalists and bloggers.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected in December 2019 and won a second term in 2024.
