Algeria flag Algeria: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Algeria

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President-elect: Abdelmadjid Tebboune (since 19 December 2019)
Prime Minister: Nadir Larbaoui (since 11 November 2023)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2024
Council of the Nation: 2025
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. Since then, Algeria's outlook for government stability has enhanced, following weekly nationwide anti-government protests demanding substantial political system reforms. The Hirak protest movement, the primary opposition force for a decade, was effectively neutralized by three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's government implemented popular policies, contributing to economic revitalization, further supported by a favourable commodity cycle.
Algerian economic diplomacy obtained various successes in recent years, particularly in relation to the country’s hydrocarbon exports to Europe. Nevertheless, in 2023, the North African country's application to join the BRICS was rejected: Algeria did not make it into the initial list of five candidate countries for future integration into the BRICS, despite Russia's support. Among the reasons for the refusal were the lack of industrialization, the absence of economic diversification, or concrete state projects to revitalize the industrial fabric; the absence of a banking system befitting the mission of economic growth and an outdated fiscal system. Moreover, Algeria has been identified as a vulnerable country due to its distance from nations engaged in the energy transition.
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 174 seats, 96 members are indirectly elected in secret ballot (2/3) and 58 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

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
146/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
6/7

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

 

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Latest Update: July 2024