Parties backing Algeria's president lead parliamentary election results

Three political parties backing Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's program led parliamentary elections, according to final results announced by the country's Constitutional Court on Saturday.

At a news conference in the capital Algiers, the court said the National Liberation Front ranked first with 91 of the 407 seats in the People's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

The National Democratic Rally came second with 74 seats, while the Future Front finished third with 56 seats, according to the court.

The Movement of Society for Peace came fourth with 43 seats, while the National Construction Movement, a party that supports Tebboune, placed fifth with 40 seats.

The Constitutional Court said the Independents' bloc fell to sixth place with 33 seats after emerging as the second-largest parliamentary bloc in the 2021 elections with 84 seats.

Traditional opposition parties won only a limited number of seats, according to the court. The Socialist Forces Front secured 12 seats, while the secular Rally for Culture and Democracy won four and the radical-left Workers' Party took three.

The Constitutional Court said voter turnout stood at 21.24%, down from 30.2% in the previous parliamentary elections in 2021.

The figures show the next parliament's overall composition remains largely unchanged, with parties backing the presidential majority retaining the largest number of seats.

The combined total of the three leading parties is enough to secure an absolute majority in the chamber, allowing Tebboune to form a government headed by a prime minister responsible for implementing the presidential program.

Under Algeria's 2020 Constitution, the president appoints a prime minister if parties supporting the presidential majority win the largest number of seats.

According to the Constitution, if opposition parties secure a parliamentary majority, the president appoints a head of government from the opposition, who serves under their own program rather than the president's.

The constitutional reform was designed to regulate the political outcomes of the 2019 Hirak protest movement and translate them into the formation of the executive branch.

The new parliament will include 22 parties, up from 13 after the previous elections, reflecting a broader party presence at the expense of independent candidates.

The figures also showed that three parties won three seats each, five parties secured one seat apiece and two parties obtained two seats each.

Under the Constitution and electoral law, the Independent National Authority for Elections submits preliminary results and voting documents to the Constitutional Court, which rules on appeals, announces the final results and publishes the official figures in the Official Gazette.

The Constitutional Court's announcement marks the final stage of the electoral process. The results will be published in the Official Gazette, after which the new People's National Assembly will be inaugurated within 15 days.