The National Liberation Front (FLN), Algeria’s ruling party, won parliamentary elections on Saturday despite historically high voter apathy, the National Elections Authority announced on Tuesday.
Many observers had written off the party because of its ties to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The FLN won 105 of the 407 seats, with independent candidates taking 78. The country’s main Islamist party, the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), which had claimed victory in the polls, finished third with 64 seats, according to elections commission president Mohamed Chorfi.
The FLN’s seat share has decreased significantly since the last elections.
It lost more than 50 seats and now controls one-quarter of the new assembly’s elected members.
The FLN has traditionally allied itself with the Rassemblement National Démocratique (RND), which won 57 seats (14%).
“The foundations of this Parliament were built in freedom and transparency by the people,” said Mohamed Chorfi.
According to the commission, 5.6 million voters out of a total of more than 24 million participated in the exercise.
