El marc polític d'Algèria

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders

President-elect: Abdelmadjid Tebboune (since 19 December 2019)
Prime Minister: Ayman Benabderrahmane (since 7 July 2021)

Next Election Dates

Presidential: 2024
Council of the Nation: NA
National People's Assembly: 12 June 2026

Current Political Context

Abdelmajid Tebboune, Bouteflika's prime minister in 2017, has been in charge as President since December 2019. In the 2021 snap legislative elections called against the backdrop of continuing protests (‘Hirak’) and the constitutional reform approved by referendum in November 2020, the National Liberation Front, the country's dominant political party since independence in 1962, obtained the majority of seats (98 of 407) but lost more than 60 seats; same as for its traditional ally, the National Democratic Rally (58 seats, -40 compared to the previous election). The Movement of Society for Peace and independents made significant gains, obtaining 65 and 84 seats, respectively.
Despite the tense diplomatic relations with Morocco, which led to the closure of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline, Algerian diplomacy was active in 2022, particularly in relation to the country’s hydrocarbon exports to Europe: in July, the Italian oil company Eni, American Occidental and French Total signed a USD 4 billion oil and gas production-sharing contract with Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach. Moreover, plans for a Trans-Saharan gas pipeline passing through Algeria, Nigeria and Niger have been restated.

Main Political Parties

Following liberalisation of the electoral law in 1997, dozens of political parties entered the parliamentary sphere. Still, most political power is concentrated in the President-backed National Liberation Front (FLN).

• National Liberation Front (FLN): left-wing, secures about half of parliamentary seats; previously the only legally permitted party
• National Rally for Democracy (RND): centrist, liberal; initially created by the military as an alternative party, but still remains closely aligned to the FLN
• Future Front (FM): centrist, nationalist
• National Construction Movement (Binaa): Islamic democracy, Algerian nationalism

The main opposition parties include:

• Movement of Society for Peace (MSP): Sunni Islamism, Islamic democracy, aligned with the international Muslim Brotherhood
• People's Voice Party (PVP): led by Lamine Osmanie, a former member of the Algerian National Front
• Justice and Development Front (FJD): right-wing, inspired by the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Executive Power

The President of the Republic is the Head of State. He is directly elected by direct universal suffrage by absolute majority in two rounds if needed for a 5-year term (renewable once). He appoints the Prime Minister after consultation with the majority party in the Parliament and the Government at the suggestion of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister sets the amount of the State's expenses and revenue and prepares some bills.

Legislative Power

Parliament is bicameral and composed of the Council of the Nation (Majlis al-Umma) and the National Popular Assembly (al-Majlis al-Sha'abi al-Watani). The Council (upper house) has 144 seats, 96 members are indirectly elected in secret ballot (2/3) and 48 are appointed by the President of the Republic (1/3). Its members serve a six-year term with one-half of the membership renewed every 3 years. The Assembly (lower house) has 407 members directly elected by the population to serve 5-year terms, of which 8 are elected among Algerians living abroad.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

146/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Not Free

Political Freedom:

6/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House