SHARECountry Data
Algeria (People's Democratic Republic of Algeria) has a Bicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 119 of 462 (26%) seats in the Al-Majlis Al-Chaabi Al-Watani / National People's Assembly are held by women.
At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Bicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
- For the Single/Lower House? Yes
- For the Upper House? No
- For the Sub-National Level? Yes
Are there voluntary quotas...
- Adopted by political parties? No
Is there additional information?...
- Yes
Last updated: May 28, 2019
Single/Lower House
Al-Majlis Al-Chaabi Al-Watani / National People's Assembly
| Total seats | 462 |
| Total Women | 119 |
| % Women | 26% |
| Election Year | 2017 |
| Electoral System | List PR |
| Quota Type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | Article 2 of the 2012 Law for the Representation of Women requires variable quotas of between 20% and 50% of the candidates for parliament to be women, depending on the number of seats in each electoral district. The law prescribes the following quotas in relation to the magnitude of the electoral constituencies: 20% for the constituencies with 4 seats; 30% for those with 5 or more seats; 35% for those with 14 or more seats; 40% for those with 32 or more seats; and 50% for the constituencies abroad. Article 3 states: ‘The seats are assigned in function of the number of votes obtained by each list. The proportions fixed in Article 2 above are necessarily reserved to women candidates according to their position within the lists.’ In addition, political parties can be awarded specific state funding according to the number of their women candidates elected at the national and sub-national levels (Article 7). |
|
| Political funding legislation | ||
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | Any list of candidates for election established in violation of the quota requirements will be rejected (Article 5 (1)). Article 5 (2) provides an opportunity for parties to make changes to their candidate lists to comply with the gender-based quota requirements 1 month before the date of the election |
| Rank order/placement rules | No | |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
- Quota type: Reserved seats
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | Candidate lists presented for elections to the Wilaya Assemblies must contain at least 30% women candidates if there are 35, 39, 43 or 47 seats to be filled in the respective Wilaya, and 35% if there are between 51 and 55 seats. Candidate lists presented for elections to the Communal Assemblies located in the municipal capitals of dairas and in communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants must comprise at least 30% women candidates (Article 2). In addition, political parties can be awarded specific state funding according to the number of women candidates elected at the national and sub-national levels (Article 7). |
|
| Political funding legislation | ||
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | Any list of candidates for election established in violation of the quota requirements will be rejected (Article 5 (1)). Article 5 (2) provides an opportunity for parties to make changes to their candidate lists to comply with the gender-based quota requirements. These changes must be made 1 month before the date of the elections. |
| Rank order/placement rules | No |
Additional Information
While providing mandatory candidate quotas for women candidates, the legal framework does not specify any mechanism for the allocation of seats to women in a manner that would translate the quota requirements into actual seat allocations in the elected parliament. In order to address this issue, an inter-ministerial circular was issued in advance of the 2012 parliamentary elections, specifying the formula for the allocation of seats for women.
During the 2012 legislative elections, political parties largely respected the women’s quota requirements, nominating a total of 7700 women candidates, or approximately 31 per cent of the total number of candidates. However, given that the law falls short of specifying ranking rules, a limited number of party lists were headed by women and relatively few party lists in certain constituencies alternated male and female candidates
Sources
LEGAL SOURCES:
- Loi organique no 12-03 du 18 Safar 1433 correspondant au 12 janvier 2012 fixant les modalités augmentant les chances d’accès de la femme à la représentation dans les assemblées élues [Organic Law no. 12-03 (i) of 12 January 2012 establishing the modalities for improving the representation of women in elected assemblies for the representation of women];
- Loi organique no 59-11 relative à l’élection des membres des conseils des collectivités territoriales [Organic Law no. 59-11 of 21 November 2011 on the election of council members of local authorities];
OTHER SOURCES:
- European Union Election Observation Mission, ‘Rapport final, élections législatives Algérie 2012’ [Final report on the 2012 legislative elections in Algeria];
- National Democratic Institute, ‘Final Report on Algeria’s Legislative Elections’, 10 May 2012