As Algeria prepares to hold parliamentary elections next month, there is scant hope that these could mark a new political opening, seven years after the derailed pro-democracy Hirak protests.
On 2 July, Algerians will be called upon to elect the 407 members of the National People's Assembly (APN) for a five-year term.
The last legislative election in 2021 saw a record abstention rate: only 23 percent of eligible voters participated, according to official figures, while the vote was also boycotted by most opposition parties.
One of the major challenges facing the authorities today is reversing this trend.
“A figure above 35 percent would be presented as a sign of political normalisation after the turmoil of the Hirak. A figure below 20 percent would be a scathing rebuke,” an Algerian official told Middle East Eye.
