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Election Profile:

Flag of Algeria Source for election date

At stake in this election:

  • The office of President of Algeria

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA *
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister Ahmed OUYAHIA
  • Assembly: Algeria has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani) with 389 seats and the Council of Nations (Senate) with 144 seats.

* A November 2008 constitutional amendment abolished presidential term limits. The electoral system is two-round.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term.
  • In the National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani) 389 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms. In the Council of Nations (Senate), 96 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 6-year terms and 48 members are appointed by the President to serve 6-year terms.**

** The Constitution requires half the Council of Nations to be renewed every three years.

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

* President BOUTEFLIKA is supported by a coalition of two parties, National Liberation Front and National Rally for Democracy
**** While Mohammed SAID is running as an independent candidate, he is leader of the Armed Islamic Goup of (GIA), an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group that sought the violent overthrow of the Algerian state during the 1990s.

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 34,178,188 (July 2009 est.)
  • Registered Voters: 20,595,683 (April 2009 )

Last Updated on 05/23/2007

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