The Ministry of Internal Affairs approved three Islamic political parties along with seven other new parties to contest the general election in May 2012. As such, Algeria now has 22 political parties that can legally run in the election, including six existing Islamic parties.
Political expert Rachid Tlemcani said he was sure that the move by the Algerian Ministry of Home Affairs was intended to divide the voices of Muslims.
The Algerian government previously said the election would not be followed by former activists of the Islamic FIS party, who won the 1990 election.
Abdallah Djaballah from the Front Justice and Development party complained about the limited time before the election date for new parties to be ready for election.
Islamic parties hope to follow in the footsteps of Islamic groups in Tunisia and Egypt that have won the election. The Egyptian parliament is even dominated (75%) by representatives from Islamic parties from the Muslim Brotherhood and salafi groups. However, the Algerian Minister of Home Affairs once stated that there was no place for an Islamic party to win - referring to the 1991 case when the military overturned the FIS victory over French support.
Algerian political observer, Mohammed Saadi is pessimistic about the unity of the Islamic parties in Algeria. He considered that there were still many things that could not be put together so that this party could form a solid coalition. Political expert at Fordham University in New York, John Entelis also still sees personal competition between leaders there.
Labor's Louisa Hanoun predicts a legacy of past bloodshed will keep Algerians from voting for an Islamic party. "They have not recovered from the national tragedy (civil war)," he said. (Mel / Associated Press / ddhongkong.org). *
