Algeria elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. People's National Assembly (al-Majlis al-Sha'abi al-Watani/Assemblé Populaire Nationale) has 380 members, elected for a five-year term in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation. Eight seats in the national assembly are reserved for Algerians abroad. The Council of the Nation (Majlis al-Umma/Conseil de la Nation) has 144 members, 96 members elected by communal councils and 48 members appointed by the president. Algeria has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Algerian elections are generally free and fair. According to a US Embassy cable, the 2009 presidential elections were "carefully choreographed and heavily controlled", with the official turnout figure "exaggerated" by at least 45%.
Until 12 November 2008, presidents were limited to two terms; on this date, amendments to the constitution were passed with removed the term limits.
The next legislative election is scheduled for May 2012: Algerian legislative election, 2012.
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“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)