In Algeria’s parliamentary elections, silence might be the loudest message

Algerians are headed to the polls today to elect their next members of parliament. Nearly 25 million people are eligible to vote, selecting from over 1,200 candidates for 407 seats in the lower house. It’s the country’s second parliamentary election since the pro-democracy Hirak movement swept the country in 2019 – the peaceful uprising that successfully ousted the longtime president and raised hopes for a new political order free of government corruption and high unemployment.

But seven years on, the fervor of the Hirak protests has faded, and the public’s demands remain largely unaddressed. Algerians are still facing shrinking freedoms, particularly around the press and speech, deteriorating public services, and a cost-of-living crisis driven by a weakening Algerian currency and rising food prices. Meanwhile, real power remains concentrated with the presidency and the military-security establishment – known collectively as “le pouvoir” – rather than in parliament, and distrust of the state runs deep. Across the country, the prevailing sentiment is that the elections simply will not change much.

The outgoing parliament, elected in 2021, is dominated by pro-government forces, with the National Liberation Front (FLN) and its pro-government allies holding roughly 300 seats. Experts also expect this election to result in the same parties’ success.

Meanwhile, critics call the parliament a “rubber stamp” for executive decisions. “You wouldn’t notice [the parliament] if it wasn’t there,” Intissar Fakir, Senior Fellow and Founding Director of the North Africa and Sahel Program at the Middle East Institute, told GZERO. “But does it do a lot? Not really.”

Because of this, voters have a history of staying home in recent years. The outgoing Algerian parliament saw a mere 23% turnout in the 2021 elections, with major opposition factions boycotting the polls. Dissent in Algeria has been met with repression and imprisonment, with the state arbitrarily arresting hundreds of activists, protesters, and journalists since 2019.

The distrust runs deep enough to even reach election workers themselves. “Most of the people who take the time to work in an election and work in a polling station have enough civic sense to do that, and many of them get paid, [but] don’t even take the time to vote,” William Lawrence, Senior Fellow and North Africa Area Studies Director at the National Council on U.S. Arab Relations, said. “That tells you something right there.”

But for some voters, staying home is less a sign of apathy than an act of resistance, according to Lawrence. “Non-participation can be a rejection of the system,” he said. The state is keenly aware of this pattern, and has prepared to suppress boycotts altogether. A March 2026 law allows courts to dissolve political parties that boycott two consecutive elections.

The ruling government, led by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who secured re-election in 2024 amid similarly high abstention rates, is hoping for a decent turnout this time around. Although Tebboune’s name is not on the ballot, a strong showing allows him to claim public participation, establish domestic political legitimacy, and project an image of a stable, functioning democracy, according to Fakir. The government even declared Thursday a national holiday to encourage people to cast ballots.

Still, the run-up to the vote has been marked by skepticism. More than 3,700 candidates were disqualified – including prominent activists from the Hirak movement – on the grounds of “suspicious political activity,” deepening doubts about the fairness of the process.

At the same time, opposition forces to Tebboune and his allied political parties are fractured. Constitutional amendments in 2020 opened new pathways for individuals to run outside traditional parties. But analysts say this shift may ultimately serve as an advantage for Tebboune, dispersing opposition energy rather than consolidating it. While campaigning, independent candidates and parties often struggled to draw crowds, sometimes resorting to streets and cafes to attract voters.

As voting is underway across the country, the ultimate metric of the election will not just be who turned out, but who did not. For many Algerians, attention will drift less to the ballot than to the country’s World Cup match against Switzerland. Whether abstaining from voting as a protest or simply seeing no use in the vote, the silence of empty polling stations will be deafening.