At stake in this election:

• 462 seats in the National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Ahmed OUYAHIA
• Assembly: Algeria has a bicameral Parliament (Majlis) consisting of the Council of the Nation (Majlis al-Oumma) with 144 seats and the National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani) with 462 seats.

* A November 2008 constitutional amendment abolished presidential term limits.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Council of the Nation (Majlis al-Oumma), 96 members are indirectly elected by an electoral college to serve 6-year terms and 48 members are appointed by the President to serve 6-year terms*. In the National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani) 462 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* The Constitution requires half the Council of Nations to be renewed every three years. There are 48 multi-member (2 seats) corresponding to country's wilayas (administrative districts).

** There is a five percent threshold for entering parliament. There are 48 multi-member districts, corresponding to country's administrative units. Depending on the area, 20 to 50 percent of parties' list candidates must be women.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: National Rally for Democracy / التجمع الوطني الديمقراطي‎, Rassemblement National Démocratique (RND)
  • Leader: Ahmed OUYAHIA
• Party: Workers' Party / Hizb al-Ummal حزب العمال Parti des Travailleurs,
  • Leader: Louise HANOUNE
• Party: Socialist Forces Front / جبهة القوى الاشتراكية Front des Forces socialistes
  • Leader: Hocine Aït AHMED
• Party: National Liberation Front / جبهة التحرير الوطني‎; Front de Libération Nationale (FLN)
  • Leader: Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA
• Alliance: Green Algeria*
  • Leader: N/A

* The Green Alliance is composed of the Mouvement de la société pour la paix (MSP), Ennahda; and Islah.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 35,406,303 (July 2012 est.)
• Registered Voters: 21,645,841 (May 2012 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population:18,592,558 (2012)

·         Is Algeria a signatory to CEDAW: No

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

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 146 (31.60%) (2012)

·         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: 5,310,945 (est.)