Algerian opposition MP to head electoral commission

An Algerian opposition lawmaker has been elected head of a commission to oversee parliamentary polls, beating an ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, press reports said Monday.

Mohamed Seddiki, member of the small Ahd54 party, was chosen by 12 of his peers on the newly installed commission over the candidate of the ruling National Liberation Front party, who took four votes, El Watan daily reported.

The commission, established as part of a reform of the electoral law passed in January, will oversee elections on May 10 in the north African country. In past elections, the state has appointed "neutral" members to such commissions.

Its task will be to oversee the management of elections and seek to ensure a lack of bias among voting officials.

The panel was formally installed by Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia on February 22, but its full membership will not be decided until all parties and independent candidates have come forward for the poll.

The electoral reforms were among measures introduced last year by Bouteflika in the wake of the Arab spring revolutions that toppled repressive regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

Since multi-party politics were introduced in Algeria in 1989, the opposition has systematically denounced electoral fraud in favour of the ruling party and its allies.

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