Algeria goes to the polls on Saturday for a new parliament that is intended to meet the demands of democratic protesters and turn a new leaf for the troubled, albeit gas-rich, country. Not everyone is happy about the election, as many activists are planning boycotts.
Authorities have tightened the grip on Hirak’s protest movement in recent weeks, and police have arrested a politician and journalist who are prominent opposition figures ahead of the vote.
The early election is intended to exemplify President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s “new Algeria”, with an emphasis on young candidates and people outside the political elite. A large number of candidates – more than 20,000 – participate in the legislature with 407 seats, more than half. as independent and the rest on party lists.
It is the first election since former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced out of office in 2019 after 20 years in power amid protests over corruption, unemployment and oppression.
But the threat of a boycott, concerns about the coronavirus and general frustration over the political system mean that Saturday’s turnout may be low.
Women make up half of the candidates for the first time, among the efforts to make a fresh start. But women have been largely invisible from the campaign – and in some cases, their faces became blurred or hidden in campaign posters, according to the newspaper El Watan.
The candidates had only 20 days to campaign, and Algerian media said that real debate on important issues, such as unemployment, was mostly lacking.
“With such a large number of candidates, the calculation of power is simple: to elect a patchwork unit, without a majority, which allows the president to create his own parliamentary majority with which he will rule,” said political scientist Rachid Grime.
A new electoral authority was set up to conduct the vote, and its chief said the results could take up to ten days to agree with the large number of candidates and the new system.
Many candidates could not afford campaign posters. Independent candidates such as Djamel Maafa, a former TV producer, used social networks to spread their message of lack of access to large parties’ funds and logistical structure.
Parties supporting the Hirak movement called for a boycott because they want a more fundamental political transition.
“Elections in Algeria have always shown that they are not the solution. The solution lies in the democratic transition, it is also in a dialogue around a table to resolve the crisis,” said activist Sofiane Haddadji.
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