Algeria Faces Election Amid Concerns of Eligibility and Economic Pressure

In Algeria, voters participated in parliamentary elections overshadowed by concerns over living costs and the exclusion of candidates challenging the government. Nearly 25 million voters in Africa’s largest country chose from 1,235 candidates competing for 407 seats in the lower house of Parliament.

Voter turnout was a major concern as campaign events saw low participation. To encourage voting, the government declared election day a paid national holiday. Many Algerians seemed more worried about everyday issues like purchasing power and deteriorating public services amid declining political, media, and union freedoms.

With a national passion for football, many Algerians were also focused on the World Cup, where Algeria’s team faced Switzerland for a knockout stage spot early Friday. The outgoing majority, aligned with the government, held about 300 seats, while the Islamist MSP party was the second-largest political force with 64 deputies.

Some MSP candidates were among the 269 aspirants barred, including former leaders and activists from the pro-democracy Hirak movement, which played a role in the ousting of autocratic leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019. Under his successor, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, government restrictions on freedoms have tightened. He was reelected for a second term in 2024.

According to the electoral authority, disqualified candidates were banned from participating due to “links with illicit financial networks” and “suspicious political activities.” On the eve of the elections, security measures were implemented at voting centers in the capital, Algiers. In southern and Sahara desert regions, voting occurred 48 hours earlier, allowing nomadic populations to cast ballots transported by government off-road vehicles, escorted by police in Land Rovers.

In the Algerian diaspora, with about 854,225 registered voters especially in France, where the largest expatriate community resides, voting took place over the weekend at various consular offices. According to the state news agency APS, participation was high with a “family atmosphere.” The government also advanced school year-end exams to free up classrooms and teachers, who typically manage polling centers in exchange for a daily allowance.

Faced with largely empty campaign venues, parties and independent candidates opted for “grassroots meetings” on streets, in markets, and popular cafes with citizens. In a widely shared video, a political party leader unsuccessfully tried to persuade a young man to vote. Despite this, parties campaigned. The presidential majority, led by the veteran FLN party, sought wide participation to bolster Algeria domestically against geopolitical challenges.

The opposition Workers’ Party, with a Trotskyist orientation, campaigned to increase pensions and wages and against a mining sector reform favoring foreign investors. The leader of the Socialist Forces Front, the main party of the democratic movement, called for the release of political prisoners and more press freedom, arguing that boycotting the elections would only benefit the government.

The electoral authority based candidate disqualification on an anti-corruption law, which in previous years allowed some parliamentary seats to be bought with money linked to drug trafficking, corruption, and tax evasion. Those affected claim the law was unfairly applied or used for political reasons. “I myself voted for this virtuous law aimed at cleaning up the political scene, but it is clear it has been misused as a tool of mass exclusion,” said Abdelahab Yagoubi, an Islamist legislator representing the Algerian diaspora who could not seek reelection.

Said Oulhadj, a 62-year-old primary school headmaster from a mountain village, wanted to run with the independent Thagmats party but was barred. “I have nothing to do with dirty money,” he told The Associated Press. “The electoral authority has damaged my reputation and honor. How will my students, their parents, and my colleagues see me?”

The president of the electoral authority, Karim Khelfane, defended the institution, noting that nearly 70% of submitted candidacies were accepted and that legislators who cannot seek a second term voted for the anti-corruption law.