Algeria Announces Parliamentary Election Results

Algeria’s electoral authority on Tuesday published the results of Saturday’s controversial parliamentary elections, which were largely boycotted by the general public and drew a paltry 23% turnout. The National Liberation Front preserved its position as the nation’s largest party despite a significant dip, garnering 105 of the 407 parliamentary seats. The Islamist Movement of Society for Peace placed second with 64 seats and the Democratic National Rally netted 57 seats, with smaller and independent parties rounding out the list. Saturday’s vote was held under heavy protest led by the opposition Hirak movement, several of whose leaders were arrested days before polls opened. The protest movement, which drove former strongman President Abdelaziz Bouteflika out of office in 2019, has persisted in holding mass demonstrations against current premier Abdelmadjid Tebboune, dismissing his election and last year’s constitutional amendment referendum as insufficient and corrupt. Hundreds of thousands of the group’s supporters successfully campaigned to boycott the elections, after police renewed its crackdown last month and blocked protests across the country.