At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Algeria

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Liamine ZEROUAL
• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Smail HAMDANI
• 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.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani) 380 members are elected by popular vote to serve 4-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 to serve 6-year terms.**

** In the Council of Nations (Senate), 96 members are elected by indirect vote and 48 members are appointed by the President, all to serve 6-year terms. The Constitution requires half the Council of Nations to be renewed every three years.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA*
  • Party: Independent
• Ahmed TALEB-IBRAHIMI
  • Party: Independent
• Abdallah DJABALLAH
  • Party: Independent
• Mouloud HAMROUCHE
  • Party: Independent
• Mokdad SIFI
  • Party: Independent
• Youcef KHATIB
  • Party: Independent
• Hocine AIT-AHMED
  • Party: Socialist Forces Front (FFS)

* Six of the seven presidential candidates officially withdrew before election day. Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA became the only remaining candidate in the race.

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election was held on November 16, 1995. In this election, Liamine ZEROUAL received 61.01% of the vote and thus defeated Mahfoud NAHNAH, his closest competitor with 25.67% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 30,480,793 (July 1998 est.)
• Registered Voters: 17,488,757 ( 1999 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 14,916,130 (1999)

·         Is Algeria a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Algeria ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (22 May 1996)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 12 (1997)

·         Human Development Index Position: 83 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Algeria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Algeria ratified CRPD: Yes (4 December 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 4,572,119 (est.)