Islamist party claims victory in Algerian election

A moderate Islamist party claimed victory Sunday in Algeria’s legislative election even though results were not expected for several more days.

Less than 24 hours after polls closed in the North African country, the head of the Movement for a Peaceful Society said the party “leads results in the majority of wilayas (regions) and overseas.” Party chief Abderrazak Makri also denounced alleged fraud attempts “to change the results.”

The party did not provide the basis for its victory claim.

The turnout for Saturday’s parliamentary election was dismal, with less than a third of the 24 million eligible voters casting ballots, according to the chief of Algeria’s electoral authority said late Saturday. The low participation reflected disinterest, longstanding opposition in the Berber region and a boycott by the pro-democracy movement that forced the country’s longtime president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to resign in 2019.

The head of the National Independent Authority for Elections, Mohamed Charfi, said it would take about four days for official results to be finalized given the complexity of counting under a new system that opened the door to more than 1,000 independent candidates among more than 2,000 lists.

Charfi put the provisional turnout rate in the voting to fill 407 parliamentary seat at 30%.

Photo: EPA-EFE/MOHAMED MESSARA

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