Friday, May 11, 2012

Ruling Party Wins Big in Algerian Elections

Algeria on Friday declared its ruling party the winner of a parliamentary election.   

Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia announced the winners from Thursday's vote, saying that the country's Constitutional Council would have 10 days to officially ratify the consequences.

He says that the country's ruling National Liberation Front won 220 seats. An alliance of moderate Islamists claimed 66 seats and disputed the outcomes.

The National Alliance Party party of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia claimed second place with 68 seats, the golf green Alliance won 48, the Socialists won 21, and the Worker's Party won 20.

Kabila said voter turnout was 44 percent, in comparison to a record low turnout of 37 percent within the 2007 elections. He said the elections went relatively smoothly aside from "several small incidents or verbal disputes" that were "resolved quickly."

But Islamic parties said there has been "widespread fraud."

About 1/2 the 44 political parties that competed were legalized this year. a far better Islamist victory, in Algeria's first elections because the Arab Spring, would have echoed trends in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

Opposition activists citing ongoing distrust of promised government reforms had urged voters to stick clear of the polls.

Despite the fraud claims, the top of a team of European Union election monitors, Jose Ignacio Salafranca, said that there have been few irregularities.

He says that voting generally happened under satisfactory conditions and that observers were present at both the outlet and shutting of polling stations. He said polling places were generally well-equipped and that polling workers were well-prepared..

One woman who voted within the capital Algiers, however, complained that there have been lots of glitches and that she came away frustrated by the voting.

She complains that she had her voting card but wasn't capable of finding her name at the electoral roll. Nobody, she adds, was around to assist her resolve the issue.

Abu Jarah Sultani, who heads the Society for Peace Movement, said that the election was a chance for Algerians to create their very own "Arab Spring."

He says that the vote was a referendum at the Algerian reform movement and a possibility for Algerians to construct a future beginning within the voting booths.

While Islamists hoped for an easier showing, Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science on the University of Paris, said it was probably not.

He said that for the foremost part Islamic fundamentalist parties aren't going to ride a tidal wave to power as they did in Tunisia and Morocco, because they're seriously divided. He adds that even supposing they'd made a far better showing, they might were forced to form alliances with two more conservative parties.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has announced a chain of constitutional reforms after pro-democracy protests erupted last year. The hot parliament will vote on proposed constitutional changes and lay the groundwork for presidential elections in 2014.



From WhatNewsToday.net

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