Islamists Near Victory in Algerian Parliamentary Elections

A bloc of Islamist parties predicted a win in Algeria’s parliamentary elections that began today, even as voter apathy in the oil-rich nation plagued campaigning.

The vote, the freest in the North African country since 1991, may offer Islamists stronger footing in the parliament, mirroring gains by their counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia, where the Arab Spring uprisings that sidestepped Algeria pushed Islamist parties to the political forefront.

The Green Algeria Alliance, an Islamist bloc that groups the Movement of Society for Peace, Ennahda and the Islah party, expects a strong showing in the vote, in which 44 parties are vying for places in the newly expanded 462-seat legislature.

Growing support in the past few weeks “makes us believe we will be the first political force in Algeria,” Kamel Mida, the alliance’s spokesman, said by telephone from Algiers.

Authorities are concerned that the elections may draw a turnout similar to the record-low 35 percent of people who voted in the 2007 legislative race. Algerians including Nacer Djabi, an Algiers University sociologist, attribute the lack of interest to continued corruption and general disillusionment with the government. Campaign posters have been defaced across the country of 35 million people.

Algerians suffered through a decade of violence that left more than 200,000 people dead and was sparked by the military’s intervention in the 1991 vote that Islamists were poised to win.

The National Liberation Front, or FLN, which holds the largest bloc of seats in the current parliament and is the party of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, predicted the Islamists wouldn’t secure more than 30 percent of the seats.

Kassa Aissi, an FLN spokesman and political bureau member, said his the party has a solid base of “loyal voters” that will ensure its position in the next parliament.

“Our party can always count on loyal voters that trusted it during previous elections,” he said by phone yesterday.

Organizations including the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League have sent observers to monitor the vote. Polls will close at 8 p.m. local time and the results will be announced tomorrow, according to bloomberg.com