Algeria's largest Islamist party warns of attempts to 'steal' election victory

Algeria's leading Islamist party on Sunday accused an electoral body of attempting to "steal" its election victory.

Abderrazak Makri, leader of the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), issued a statement declaring that his movement "came to the lead in most provinces and in the expat community".

"We extend our warmest greetings and appreciation to the citizens who voted on our lists," he added.

He warned "that there are extensive attempts to change the results" based on acts of alleged fraud in previous elections.

The independent electoral authority in Algeria responded to MSP, saying the party's accusations were "not credible".

These accusations "affect the commitment of the independent election authority and its integrity", it said, adding that it will present the results to the public in "full transparency".

The MSP said last week that they expected to win a majority in the 144-seat parliament as they had the "strongest campaign" in the country.

Counting could take days as different parties have already claimed victory.

These legislative elections are the first since the 2019 uprising which ousted former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and stopped him from running for a fifth term.

The Saturday elections also witnessed extremely low voter turnout with only 30 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots.

The "Hirak" protest movement has been calling for a boycott of all elections with activists continuing to take to the streets demanding a complete overhaul of the ruling class which has been in power since 1962.