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Algeria’s Islamist parties failing to inspire

Moderate Islamist parties in Algeria, which have been weakened by factionalism and internal disagreements over the years, are unlikely to increase their base in the upcoming general and local elections.
This picture taken on July 6, 2019 shows former Algerian prime minister Ali Benflis (2nd-R) and the president of the Algerian Islamist party the "Movement for the Society of Peace" Abderrazak Makri (C), attending with other members of political parties, civil society representatives and national personalities a meeting dubbed the "National Forum for Dialogue", at a hall at the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management in the capital Algiers' suburb of Ain Benian. - The meeting is being held outside the orbi

Algeria’s moderate Islamist parties are unlikely to be able to capitalize on the snap general and local elections that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said will be held later this year. The regime does not have to worry about preventing Islamists from occupying a high proportion of seats in the legislature. This is at least partly because Algeria’s moderate Islamist parties are unlikely to capture the public’s imagination and make strong inroads at the ballot box.

Though not actively engaged in politics, the Dawa Salafiya movement is and will remain far more appealing for pious and traditional Algerians. They reject the corrupt political establishment and distrust moderate Islamist parties that have a history of being coopted by "le pouvoir" — the coterie of ruling elites.

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