Algerian legislative election, 2012

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Algerian legislative election, 2012

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←  2007 10 May 2012 (2012-05-10) 2017  →
All 462 seats to the People's National Assembly
232 seats are needed for a majority
Turnout 43.14%

  First party Second party Third party
  Abdelmalek Sellal-IMG 3477.jpg Ahmed Ouyahia.jpg
Leader Abdelmalek Sellal Ahmed Ouyahia Bouguerra Soltani
Party FLN RND Green Alliance
Last election 136 seats, 23.0% 61 seats, 10.3% 60 seats, 15.6% (MSP+Nahda+Islah)
Seats won 208 68 49
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 72Increase2.svg 7Decrease2.svg 11
Popular vote 1,324,363 524,057 475,049
Percentage 17.35% 6.86% 6.22 %
SwingDecrease2.svg 5.6Decrease2.svg 3.4Decrease2.svg 9.4
Prime Minister before election

Ahmed Ouyahia
RND

Elected Prime Minister

Abdelmalek Sellal
FLN

Algeria
Algeria emb (1976).svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Algeria

A legislative election was held in Algeria on 10 May 2012. [1] The incumbent coalition, consisting of the FLN of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the RND of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, held on to power after winning a majority of seats. The Islamist parties of the Green Algeria Alliance lost seats. [2] [3]

Algeria country in North Africa

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north of the country on the Mediterranean coast. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world, and the largest in Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the west by Morocco, to the southwest by the Western Saharan territory, Mauritania, and Mali, to the southeast by Niger, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. The country is a semi-presidential republic consisting of 48 provinces and 1,541 communes (counties). It has the highest Human development index of all non-island African countries.

National Liberation Front (Algeria) political party in Algeria

The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was the principal nationalist movement during the Algerian War and the sole legal and the ruling political party of the Algerian state until other parties were legalised in 1989.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika President of Algeria

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, GColIH is an Algerian politician who has been the fifth President of Algeria since 1999. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1963 to 1979. As President, he presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002, and he ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest. He was the president of the United Nations General Assembly for a term in 1974.

Contents

Background

Following events in the Arab Spring, Algeria faced initial large scale protests but have since dwindled.

Arab Spring protests and revolutions in the Arab world

The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East in late 2010. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, beginning with protests in Tunisia. In the news, social media has been heralded as the driving force behind the swift spread of revolution throughout the world, as new protests appear in response to success stories shared from those taking place in other countries. In many countries, the governments have also recognized the importance of social media for organizing and have shut down certain sites or blocked Internet service entirely, especially in the times preceding a major rally. Governments have also scrutinized or suppressed discussion in those forums through accusing content creators of unrelated crimes or shutting down communication on specific sites or groups, such as through Facebook.

An election in 1991 that resulted in a plurality for the Islamic Salvation Front was annulled by the military amid fears of an Islamist takeover causing the Algerian Civil War.

Islamic Salvation Front political party

The Islamic Salvation Front was a Sunni Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representing its two bases of its support. Abbassi Madani appealed to pious small businessmen, and Ali Belhadj appealed to the angry, often unemployed youth of Algeria.

Algerian Civil War 1991-2002 civil war in Algeria

The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian Government and various Islamic rebel groups which began in 1991 following a coup negating an Islamist electoral victory. The war began slowly as it first appeared the government had successfully crushed the Islamist movement, but armed groups emerged to fight jihad and by 1994, violence had reached such a level that it appeared the government might not be able to withstand it. By 1996–7 however it became clear that the violence and predation of the Islamists had lost its popular support, although fighting continued for several years after.

Parties

Workers' Party

The Workers' Party (PT) announced its participation on 29 February. Louisa Hanoune has previously clarified that the party had worked with the Socialist Forces Front and would look towards an alliance between the two parties. Louisa Hanoune has become the most popular woman in Algeria after the party came second in the Algerian presidential election, 2009. Hanoune said the party's manifesto would be similar to previous elections, including improved employment opportunities, equal rights for women, the elimination of the Algerian Family Code, making Tamazight the second official language, eliminating laws that condemn people for their religion, sexuality or other discriminatory acts and make Algeria a pioneer in production.[ vague ] She also criticized the creation of new parties that have emerged in January and has asked who funds these new parties. [4]

Workers Party (Algeria) political party in Algeria

The Workers' Party is a Trotskyist political party in Algeria, closely linked with the Independent Workers' Party of France. The party is led by Louisa Hanoune.

Louisa Hanoune Algerian politician

Louisa Hanoune is the head of Algeria's Workers' Party. In 2004, she became the first woman to run for President of Algeria. Hanoune was imprisoned by the government several times prior to the legalization of political parties in 1988. She was jailed soon after she joined the Trotskyist Social Workers Organisation, an illegal party, in 1981 and again after the 1988 October Riots, which brought about the end of the National Liberation Front's (FLN) single-party rule. During Algeria's civil war of the 1990s, Hanoune was one of the few opposition voices in parliament, and, despite her party's laicist values, a strong opponent of the government's "eradication" policy toward Islamists. In January 1995, she signed the Sant'Egidio Platform together with representatives of other opposition parties, notably the Islamic Salvation Front, the radical Islamist party whose dissolution by military decree brought about the start of the civil war.

The Socialist Forces Front is a social democratic and secularist political party, mainly supported by Kabyles in Algeria. The FFS is a member of the Socialist International.

National Rally for Democracy

The National Rally for Democracy has announced its participation in the election. Ahmed Ouyahia is the party's general secretary and the incumbent prime minister. Ouyahia and Hanoune exchanged strong words in the Algerian media. Hanoune complained about his decision of the military record to the voters, showing that as evidence of possible fraud. [5]

Ahmed Ouyahia Algerian politician

Ahmed Ouyahia is an Algerian politician who has been Prime Minister of Algeria since 2017; previously he was Prime Minister from 1995 to 1998, from 2003 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2012. A career diplomat, he also served as Minister of Justice, and he was one of the founders of the National Rally for Democracy (RND) as well as the party's secretary-general. He is considered by Western observers to be close to the military of Algeria and a member of the "eradicator" faction in the 1990s civil war against Islamist militants.

Socialist Forces Front

The Socialist Forces Front (FFS) has announced its participation on 29 February. Hocine Aït Ahmed wrote to the National Council saying that "participation in these elections is a tactical necessity for the FFS, which falls in line with (its) construction strategy of peaceful democratic alternative to this despotic regime, corrupt and destructive. [The purpose of the party] does not lie in a quota of seats to reach [but] in mobilising political[ly] and peaceful[ly] in our party and our people." The party had boycotted the two previous elections because of what it called systematic electoral fraud in favour of the ruling parties. [6]

Hocine Aït Ahmed Algerian politician

Hocine Aït Ahmed was an Algerian politician. He was founder and leader until 2009 of the historical political opposition in Algeria.

National Liberation Front

So far, the National Liberation Front (FLN) has not made any official publication of who will be their prime ministerial candidate. The FLN is the biggest party in Algeria and includes President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. There are rumours that its candidate representing the FLN will be Khalida Toumi, the incumbent Minister of Culture. [7]

Green Algeria Alliance

On 8 March, three Algerian Islamist parties (Movement of Society for Peace, Islamic Renaissance Movement and the Movement for National Reform) formed the Green Algeria Alliance. Its secretary general is Bouguerra Soltani. Sultani said that the purpose of this alliance is to consolidate the voter base of the three political parties. [8]

Boycott

The Socialist Forces Front decided to forgo a decision to boycott the election after international monitors were invited to observe the process. However former Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali urged a boycott on the grounds that the election would be "a foregone conclusion. [9] Social media was abuzz with many of the country's youth calling for an abstention from voting. [10]

Monitors

Algeria allowed foreign electoral monitors for the election. The monitors would include the Carter Center, the National Democratic Institute and other NGOs from the European Union and the Arab League. [11] Overall, there were over 500 international observers. The government also called the election the "Algerian Spring" billing it as the freest election in over 20 years. [12]

Results

2012 Algerian legislative election by province Algerian legislative election 2012 by province.svg
2012 Algerian legislative election by province

Almost 22 million are eligible to vote for 44 parties following legalisation of most parties this year. Voter turnout was expected to be low, possibly less than 35% from the last election. [10] Bouteflika called for a high participation. The turnout was 42.36%. [13]

e  •  d  Summary of the 10 May 2012 People's National Assembly of Algeria election results
PartiesLeaderVotes%Seats +/–
National Liberation Front Abdelmalek Sellal 1,324,36317.35208 +72
National Rally for Democracy Ahmed Ouyahia 524,0576.8668 +7
Green Algeria Alliance (MSP—Nahda—Islah) Bouguerra Soltani 475,0496.2249–11
Front of Socialist Forces Hocine Aït Ahmed 188,2752.4727 +27
Workers' Party Louisa Hanoune 283,5853.7124–2
Algerian National Front Moussa Touati 198,5442.609–4
Justice and Development Party Abdallah Djaballah 232,6763.058 +8
Algerian Popular Movement Amara Benyounes 165,6002.177 +7
New Dawn Tahar Benbaibeche 132,4921.745 +5
Front of Change Abdelmadjid Mensara 173,9812.284 +4
National Party for Solidarity and Development Dalila Yalaqui 114,3721.504 +2
National Front for Social Justice 140,2231.843 +3
Ahd 54 Ali Fawzi Rebaine 120,2011.573 +1
Union of Democratic and Social Forces 114,4811.503 +3
National Republican Alliance Redha Malek 109,3311.433–1
Future Front Abdelaziz Belaid 174,7082.292 +2
Dignity Party 129,4271.702 +2
National Movement of Hope 119,2531.562±0
Algerian Rally Ali Zaghdoud 117,5491.542 +1
Republican Patriotic Rally 114,6511.502±0
Party of Youth Hamana Boucharma 102,6631.342 +2
Algerian Light Party 48,9430.642 +2
Party of Algerian Renewal 111,2181.461–3
El-Infitah Movement Naima Farhi 116,3841.521–2
Movement of Free Citizens 115,6311.511 +1
National Front of Independents for Understanding 107,8331.411–2
National Democratic Front 101,6431.331±0
Others1,306,65617.120–22
Independents 671,1908.7918–15
Valid votes7,634,979100.00––
Invalid votes1,704,04718.25––
Total9,339,026100462–
Registered voters/turnout21,645,84143.14––
Sources: El Watan, Adam Carr's Election Archive, IPU

Reactions

Domestic

Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia announced the result saying that "the election has reinforced the Algerian people's attachment to the values of peace and stability." [14]

  • Green Algeria Alliance: Hamas leader Bouguerra Soltani commented: "We are surprised by these results, which are illogical, unreasonable and unacceptable". He attributed the result to "those who would like to return to a single party rule." Soltani estimated that the result would "send the Algerian Spring backwards" and announced that the Islamists would consider boycotting parliament or to ally with the left-wing and liberal opposition against the government. [2]
  • Algerian National Front: Party leader Moussa Touati claimed "blatant fraud" and announced to contest the result before the constitutional court. [15]
Supranational
  • Arab League: Hanafi Wajih, the head of the observer team, said that "the election was free and transparent and the Algerian people have expressed their choice without coercion." [12]
  • Flag of Europe.svg  European Union: Ignacio Salafranca, the head of the EU observer team adjudged the election as "a first step in the reform process which will need to be backed, after a constitutional review, by a deepening of democracy". He criticised that international monitors had been denied access to a national voters' register, which contradicted pledges of transparency. However, he welcomed the overall calm atmosphere in which the elections took place. [15]
  • Flag of OIC.svg  Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: The OIC described the election as "successful and democratic" and praised that they had been held "in an organised, transparent and peaceful manner." [15]
States
  • Flag of the United States.svg  United States: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the election saying that "the high number of women elected [and the election itself is] a welcome step in Algeria's progress toward democratic reform." [15]

Aftermath

The new parliament's opening session was boycotted by 49 MPs from the Green Algeria Alliance and 11 MPs from two other parties[ which? ] on the grounds that they claimed the election was fraudulent and "a return to the era of single party rule. We decided to withdraw from the first session of the National Assembly and protest officially against the results of the ballot." Lakhdar Benkhelaf of the Islamist Front for Justice and Development, a part of the Political Front for the Safeguard of Democracy, said the boycott was "a question of principle." [16]

Related Research Articles

The History of Algeria from 1962 to 1999 includes the period starting with preparations for independence and the aftermath of the independence war with France in the 1960s to the Civil War and the 1999 presidential election.

Democratic National Rally political party

The Democratic National Rally is a political party in Algeria. It is led by the Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia. The party held its Second Congress on 15–17 May 2003.

Movement of Society for Peace

The Movement for the Society of Peace is an Islamist party in Algeria, led until his 2003 death by Mahfoud Nahnah. Its current leader is Bouguerra Soltani. It is aligned with the international Muslim Brotherhood.

2004 Algerian presidential election

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Abdelaziz Belkhadem Algerian politician

Abdelaziz Belkhadem is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria from 2006 to 2008. He was also Secretary-General of the National Liberation Front (FLN). Belkhadem served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2005 and Personal Representative of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from 2005 to 2006; after serving as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2008, he was again appointed as Personal Representative of the Head of State in 2008.

Elections in Algeria

Algeria elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. People's National Assembly has 462 members, elected for a five-year term in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation. Eight seats in the national assembly are reserved for Algerians abroad. The Council of the Nation has 144 members, 96 members elected by communal councils and 48 members appointed by the president. Algeriawesh alors has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. According to a US Embassy cable, the 2009 presidential elections were "carefully choreographed and heavily controlled", with the official turnout figure "exaggerated" by at least 45%.

1997 Algerian legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Algeria on 5 June 1997. The result was a victory for the National Rally for Democracy (RND), a new party created in early 1997 for President Zéroual's supporters, which won 156 out of 380 seats. They were followed by the Movement of Society for Peace with 69 seats, the FLN (62), and the Islamist Ennahda (34). The two Berberist parties, FFS and RCD, got 20 and 19 seats respectively. Views on this election were mixed; most major opposition parties filed complaints, and the success of the extremely new RND raised eyebrows. The RND, FLN, and MSP formed a coalition government, with the RND's Ahmed Ouyahia as prime minister.

The Sant'Egidio Platform of January 13, 1995 was an attempt by most of the major Algerian opposition parties to create a framework for peace and plan to end to the Algerian Civil War. The escalating violence and extremism, which had been provoked by the military's cancellation of the legislative elections in 1991 that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), an Islamist party, were expected to win, compelled the major political parties to unite under the auspices of the Catholic Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome. The community had previously played an important role in the drafting of the Rome General Peace Accords in 1992 which ended the civil war in Mozambique. The presence of representatives from the FIS as well as the National Liberation Front (FLN) and Socialist Forces Front (FFS) at these negotiations was extremely significant; the three parties collectively accounted for 80 per cent of the votes in the 1991 election.

General Mohamed Mediène, also known as Toufik (توفيق), was head of the Algerian secret services, the Intelligence and Security Department, from 1990 to 2015. He was described as the world's longest serving "intelligence chief".

2007 Algerian legislative election election

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2002 Algerian legislative election

The 2002 Algerian Legislative election was held in Algeria on 30 May 2002 to elect members of the People's National Assembly. The governing National Liberation Front (FLN) won a majority of seats in the election. The election suffered from a low turnout, violence and boycotts by some opposition parties.

2010–12 Algerian protests protest

The 2010–12 Algerian protests was a series of protests taking place throughout Algeria, lasting from 28 December 2010 to early 2012. The protests had been inspired by similar protests across the Middle East and North Africa. Causes cited by the protesters included unemployment, the lack of housing, food-price inflation, corruption, restrictions on freedom of speech and poor living conditions. While localized protests were already commonplace over previous years, extending into December 2010, an unprecedented wave of simultaneous protests and riots, sparked by sudden rises in staple food prices, erupted all over the country starting in January 2011. These were quelled by government measures to lower food prices, but were followed by a wave of self-immolations, most of them in front of government buildings. Opposition parties, unions, and human rights organisations then began to hold weekly demonstrations, despite these being illegal without government permission under the ongoing state of emergency; the government suppressed these demonstrations as far as possible, but in late February yielded to pressure and lifted the state of emergency. Meanwhile, protests by unemployed youth, typically citing unemployment, hogra (oppression), and infrastructure problems, resumed, occurring almost daily in towns scattered all over the country.

Events from the year 2012 in Algeria

Green Algeria Alliance

The Green Algeria Alliance, short Green Alliance was an Islamist coalition of political parties, created on 7 March 2012 for the Algerian legislative election, 2012. It consisted of the Movement of Society for Peace (Hamas), Islamic Renaissance Movement (Ennahda) and the Movement for National Reform (Islah). The alliance was led by Bouguerra Soltani of the Hamas.

2014 Algerian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Algeria on 17 April 2014. Incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected with 82% of the vote. Issues in the campaign included a desire for domestic stability after the bloody civil war of the 1990s, the state of the economy, the frail health of the 15 year incumbent and 77-year-old president whose speech was "slurred and inaudible" in his only public outing during the campaign, and the less-than-wholehearted support given the president by normally united and discrete ruling class.

Abdelmadjid Tebboune Algerian politician

Abdelmadjid Tebboune is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria from May 2017 to August 2017. Previously he was Minister of Housing from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Electoral Calendar – international elections world elections". Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  2. 1 2 Schemm, Paul (11 May 2012), "Algerian Islamists fall to govt party in election", Associated Press
  3. ↑ Faucon, Benoît (11 May 2012), "Algerian Ruling Party Beats Islamists in Vote", The Wall Street Journal
  4. ↑ L'Expression – Le Quotidien – Louisa Hanoune candidate à Alger. Lexpressiondz.com. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Inscription – Connexion. Elwatan.com (19 April 2012). Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "Algérie : le FFS ira aux législatives". Le Figaro. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "Ces ministres qui boudent la députation Après la polémique sur le cumul des mandats". Liberté Algérie. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Les islamistes se mettent au vert Le msp, ennahda et el-islah lancent leur alliance pour les législatives" Liberté Algérie. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  9. ↑ Le FFS ira aux élections : « le boycott du prochain scrutin ne constitue pas un meilleur choix que la participation ». Siwel.info. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  10. 1 2 Algeria prepares for parliamentary elections – Africa. Al Jazeera English (4 October 2011). Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Algérie: Le FFS, principal parti d'opposition, décide de participer aux législatives du 10 mai. 20minutes.fr. Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Is Algeria immune to the 'Arab Spring'?". Al Jazeera. 14 May 2012.
  13. ↑ Algerians sound off on election boycott – Features. Al Jazeera English (4 October 2011). Retrieved on 10 May 2012.
  14. ↑ "Islamists routed in Algeria's parliamentary elections". The Guardian . May 11, 2012
  15. 1 2 3 4 Mojon, Jean-Marc (13 May 2012), "US hails Algerian election despite suspicions", AFP
  16. ↑ Algerian MPs boycott parliament session - Africa - Al Jazeera English
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