Low turnout as Algerians vote in parliamentary election

 Algeria held parliamentary elections on Saturday that the ruling establishment hopes will turn a page on political unrest amid a crackdown on dissent, but even by mid-afternoon few people had voted.

Two years after mass demonstrations forced a veteran president to step down in Algeria's biggest political crisis for decades, the authorities are still struggling to quell the protest movement.

Saturday's vote followed a presidential election in 2019 and a referendum on an amended constitution last year, but many Algerians still think the real power is wielded by the army and security forces.

Polls closed at 1900 GMT and results are expected on Sunday. The election authority said only 14.5% of voters had cast ballots with four hours left to vote. By comparison, some 33% had voted with three hours left to vote in the 2019 election, when the final turnout was 40%.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said decisions were made by the majority of those who voted, regardless of turnout.

"This election is a new step to build a new Algeria," he said after voting outside the capital, Algiers.

Schoolteacher Ali Djemai, 33, started queuing early to cast his vote in the city. "We hope the next parliament will be a force pressing for change that the majority wants," he said.

But in the Kabylie region, often a focus of political opposition, riot police guarded polling stations where activists sought to burn ballot boxes and some voting centres closed early.

The "Hirak" protest movement that forced Abdelaziz Bouteflika from the presidency two years ago wants to oust the old ruling elite and stop the army interfering in politics. It sees any elections before that as a charade.

"Elections will not give the regime legitimacy, and repression and arrests will not stop the people's peaceful revolution," said Samir Belarbi, a prominent Hirak figure.

Though the government publicly welcomed Hirak as a movement of national renewal and jailed senior former officials, police also cracked down on it with arrests.

ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

The parties that have dominated for decades were damaged by corruption charges against Bouteflika's allies, creating space for independents and moderate Islamist parties to seek more votes.

"There is a real chance for change. We need to be focused and patient because a system change won't happen overnight," said Mohamed Mouloudi, a candidate for Al Bina Islamist party.

At a central Algiers cafe, 42-year-old post office worker Djamel Badir said the election would change nothing and he would not vote. "Our parliament is powerless," he said.

Parties that gain a strong position in parliament are likely to be part of Tebboune's next government, which faces a looming economic crisis.

Foreign currency reserves have dropped by four-fifths since 2013 as energy revenue fell and successive governments have failed to diversify the economy or spur strong private sector growth.