On Saturday 12 June Algerians went to the polls to vote for a new parliament. This was the first election since President Bouteflika stepped down in 2019, following the mass protests referred to as the Hirak movement.
The election saw significant boycotts from much of the opposition and scepticism among large parts of the population as to the likelihood of any meaningful change. Turnout was the country’s lowest ever, confirmed to be just 23% by the National Independent Electoral Authority (ANIE), which was created in the aftermath of the 2019 protests. The low turnout damages the standing of those elected and far greater efforts will be needed to include Algerians into the political institutions in their country.
More than 20,000 candidates stood for 407 seats, representing 58 electoral regions. Just over 10,400 of these candidates came from 28 political parties, which stood with 646 lists, but an even greater number (12,086) were independents, which stood with an unprecedented 837 lists.
