The party in power in Algeria, the National Liberation Front (FLN), won the early legislative elections organized on Saturday, but with historic abstention, in the midst of a crisis in the country and in a climate of generalized repression.
These elections were rejected by the unprecedented pro-democracy popular protest movement of Hirak, repressed by the government, and part of the opposition, who called for a boycott of the ballot.
Even if it benefits from an old and extensive establishment, the victory of the FLN is a surprise because this party was considered discredited, at the end of its rope, because of its compromise with the deposed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ousted from power in February. 2019.
The FLN is in the lead with 105 out of 407 seats, followed by independent candidates with 78 seats, the president of the Independent National Election Authority (ANIE) said on Tuesday, 72 hours after the poll.
Its traditional ally, the National Democratic Rally (RND), won 57 seats (14%).
The main Islamist formation in the country, the Society for Peace Movement (MSP, conservative), comes third with 64 seats.
The MSP, considered moderate, which had claimed victory after the election, warned against "the many attempts to change the results."
"Unfounded" statements, according to ANIE.
The FLN loses more than 50 seats
The former sole party and the main formation of the outgoing Parliament, the FLN nevertheless recorded a significant decline in the number of seats, according to the first provisional official figures.
He lost more than 50 seats to control only a quarter of the elected members of the new assembly.
The emerging assembly could therefore seal an alliance between the FLN, the RND, the independents and moderate Islamists.
Sign of the strong disinterest of Algerians, the participation rate -23.03% - reached the lowest level in the history of Algeria, all elections combined, according to ANIE.
“The rate is extremely low.
It is a figure which shows to what extent this election, like those which preceded it, does not constitute the solution to the crisis ”, declared Louisa Dris Aït Hamadouche, professor of political science at the University of Algiers.
Despite a very high number of independent candidates, the abstention is even higher than in the presidential election of 2019 and the constitutional referendum of 2020 (60% and 76% respectively).
Out of more than 24 million voters, the Authority reported 5.6 million voters, including more than a million spoiled ballots.
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For years, analysts have called the abstention "the biggest party in Algeria".
But President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has already chosen to ignore the turnout figure.
The government is in fact determined to impose its electoral “road map”, ignoring the demands of Hirak: rule of law, democratic transition, popular sovereignty, independent justice.