Brussels, 14/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - José Ignacio Salafranca MEP (EPP, Spain), who has been heading the European election observation mission during the general elections in Algeria, welcomed “a well-ordered election that took place in calm and transparency from the beginning of the election campaign to the counting of the vote.” During a press conference on Saturday 12 May he also said that the elections “are a step towards the consolidation of democracy and human rights in Algeria”. The international election observation missions also welcomed the transparency and credibility characterising these elections.
The National Liberation Front (FLN) won the elections with 220 seats out of the 462 making up the next National Popular Assembly (APN), according to the official press agency, APS. The Algerians who went to the polls on Thursday 10 May therefore voted for the team already in power, much to the annoyance of the extreme religious and conservative right, which was hoping to make a clean sweep of the elections as they had done in two neighbouring countries, Tunisia and Morocco, and further east, in Egypt. Referring to “the regularity and the transparency largely mentioned by the Qatari press”, APS makes reference to the press in a country whose interventionism on behalf of Islamists points fingers at Tunisia and Egypt. It will be necessary to wait for a few more days to see whether protests from the Islamists, far left and Berber parties have an impact or if they are in simply the manifestation of a passing electoral disappointment. If the protests begin to gain ground, “the Algerian exception” and its immunity from the fate experienced by its neighbouring countries, will have proved to have been nothing but an illusion in a country where memories are still rife of the black years marked by the assassinations of politicians, journalists and intellectuals.
The EU is categorical. On Saturday, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle welcomed the peaceful and orderly general elections. In a press release they stated: “We consider these elections to be a step forward in the reform process…in Algeria, expected to be concluded by a revision of the Constitution later this year to consolidate democracy and the rule of law.” The EU hopes that the new Algerian parliament will push the process of reforms based on democratic principles and respect for human rights, forward. Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, said that “these elections form part of the democratisation process in Algeria… reforms must be continued and be more ambitious, inclusive and far-reaching. It is up to the National Parliamentary Assembly and the other Algerian institutions to act on the aspirations of all of the country's citizens, including those who chose not to vote”. He also welcomed the “significant progress represented by the increased number of women in the new assembly thanks to the new electoral law”. The president of the European Parliament urged the newly elected candidates to pursue regional Maghreb integration in an effort to “speed up growth and job creation, particularly for young people”. He announced that the European Parliament over the next few days would continue with its detailed assessment of the election observed by the MEPs on the field. He also made a commitment to continue dialogue with the delegates in the new assembly, particularly as part of the framework for political dialogue carried out within the Parliamentary Assembly for the Union of the Mediterranean, of which he is the chairman. (FB/transl.fl)