Algeria's legislative election saw women take almost a third of the seats, making the national assembly the most gender-balanced in the region but activists say the battle is far from won. According to official results made public Wednesday, 143 of the enlarged national assembly's 462 seats will be occupied by women, up from a representation of only seven per cent in the outgoing house.

Several political parties, largely Islamists, are challenging the results of Algeria's legislative election. The National Liberation Front (FLN) came away with 220 out of a possible 462 seats in the People's National Assembly, according to the preliminary tally released Friday (11 May). But those displeased with the outcome have spoken of irregularities and alleged fraud in the way the election process was handled.

On Saturday 19th of May, Algeria Solidarity Campaign invites you to scrutinise the context of this month’s elections and how it relates to Algeria’s most recent history. The panellists will discuss the pouvoir’s resilience over the past twenty years, its relationship with leading western capitals and the degree of manoeuvre it has today amidst regional reshaping of polities. The results of the 10th of May elections will also be addressed in the same framework.

Algeria's National Liberation Front and a sister party have won legislative elections, defeating an Islamist alliance. Dahou Ould Kablia, interior minister, said on Friday the National Liberation Front took 220 seats and its sister party in government, the National Democratic Rally, took 68 seats. The two parties now form a majority in the 462-seat parliament.

Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC) calls for a protest in front of the Algerian Consulate on Saturday, May 5th at 3pm.

Address: 6 Hyde Park Gate, SW7 5EW (5min from High Street Kensington Station).

While a large-majority boycott of the polls would no doubt be a strong symbol of the regime’s illegitimacy, it is not clear how this would add to what is felt by most within Algeria already.

As part of Algeria's effort to encourage citizens to participate in the 10 May legislative election, the human rights commission suggested that people be forced to vote. Farouk Ksentini, chairman of the National Consultative Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (CNCPPDH), on 7 April proposed that there should be a punishment for those who fail to vote.

This is a letter Human Rights Watch sent to all 15 members of the UN Security Council on human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and in camps in Tindouf, Algeria.

An al-Qaeda splinter group has said it carried out a suicide attack on a paramilitary police base in southern Algeria which left 24 people wounded. 'We inform you that we are behind the explosion that occurred this morning at Tamanrasset,' the group told the AFP news agency on Saturday. The statement, sent just hours after the attack, was signed by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA).

A court in Algeria has sentenced a fugitve leader of al-Qaeda's north African wing and three of his followers to death for attacks against the military. The sentence against Mokhtar Belmokhtar and the three others was handed down in absentia on Sunday night after a day-long trial in Algiers.

“The liberation of the oppressed people cannot come as a result of magical practices, nor of a natural shock, nor of a friendly understanding”. Those were the powerful words of Frantz Fanon in his masterpiece “The Wretched of the Earth”. Fanon spoke of decolonisation as a violent process to create new men and to overthrow a system that exploits the native, dehumanises him and plunders his resources. Talk by Dr Leo Zeilig: Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 28 January at 15:00. Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AB

Algeria's People's National Assembly passed a controversial new media law on 14 December, despite opposition from journalists and many politicians. Although the act does away with prison sentences for journalists, opens up the audio-visual sector to private companies and includes a provision for new authorities to govern the press, it also places numerous restrictions on the free exercise of reporters, particularly in terms of access to sources of information.

Marieme Helie Lucas critiques appearing in Issue 557 of Pambazuka News. She praises the author’s analysis but also points out that some important happenings are missing and some erroneous statements and assumptions were made.

The political situation in North Africa remains complex even after the events of the Arab Spring. David Porter attempts to draw lessons for the region from Algeria’s experience two decades ago.

'Algeria will remain committed to the principle of supporting the inalienable right of Sahrawi people to self-determination,' said Kamel Rezzag-Bara, founder member of the Algerian National Committee of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People (CNASPS). 'Algeria will continue to supporting the fundamental right of the Saharawi people to self-determination through free, just and fair referendum,' Mr. Bara told Algeria Press Agency (APS) on the sidelines of the 2nd international conference on the peoples’ right to resistance: case of the Saharawi .

Algeria's ruling party is facing the biggest internal crisis in seven years. The divisions have surfaced between the National Liberation Front Secretary-General Abdelaziz Belkhadem and some reformist elements within the party. Some 600 party dissidents recently held a meeting authorised by the interior ministry amid tight security measures. The reformists debated three topics: the condition of the ruling party, evaluation of the party reform movement and political reforms initiated by the government.

17 October marked the 50th anniversary of the 'French-Algerian Massacre', when at least 200 Algerians living in Paris were killed by French police and another 11,000 or so were arrested while protesting for Algerian independence from France, says blog Africa is a Country in this post. This post remembers the date in the context of modern-day immigration to France.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the Action Group of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (Collectif des Familles de Disparus en Algérie, CFDA), and the Algerian Human Rights League (Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l'Homme, LADDH) have strongly condemned the intensifying harassment campaign against trade unionists and human rights defenders in Algeria. 'Our organisations call upon the Algerian Government to put an end to all harassment directed against human rights defenders, including union leaders and to suspend all judicial procedures launched against them.'

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has criticised Algeria’s new media bill, saying the new legislation does not liberate the media. ANHRI released a statement calling the new media bill endorsed by the Algerian Ministers Council a step forward in terms of abolishing the imprisonment penalty for journalists in publication cases, but the wording of the bill itself, along with the severe fines which replace the jail time, still restricts freedom of expression.

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) was granted government approval in July to officially register congregations throughout the country. Algerian Christians view the decision as a positive step toward repealing a law that restricts Christian worship.