20 years ago, Hanoune made history as the first woman to run for president in Algeria, and she remains the only woman to have done so. This raises important questions: what would it take for more women to run for the presidency in Algeria? What would it take for more Algerians to elect women in parliamentary and presidential elections? And what would it take for more women to be appointed in the Algerian government?
Algeria has one of the lowest rates of female representation in its national legislature, both in Africa and globally. The country has never had a female president. This year, three women expressed interest in the presidential race, but none qualified for the final list of candidates.
On September 7, Algeria will hold presidential elections where voters will directly elect their president for a five-year term. Out of 16 candidates, including two women, only three male candidates were retained by the Independent National Authority of Elections (ANIE). Among them is incumbent President Aldelmadjid Tebboune, who is seeking a second term.
Earlier this year, President Tebboune surprised many by announcing that the presidential elections, originally scheduled for December 2024, would be held on September 7. The last elections were widely boycotted as part of the Hirak peaceful protests, also known as the Revolution of Smiles. So far, the upcoming 2024 elections have sparked little interest among Algerian citizens, media and the political class, with many predicting another low turnout.
Algeria has yet to see a woman as president or prime minister, and currently, only five out of the 32 Cabinet Ministers are women. In the two legislative chambers – the National People’s Assembly and the Council of the Nation – women hold just 7.9% and 4.1% of the seats respectively, placing Algeria among the bottom 20 countries for women’s representation in parliament. Despite efforts in the past to address this disparity, progress has been limited.
In 2011, Algeria adopted a gender quota requiring that one-third of the seats in the National People’s Assembly be reserved for women. This led to a significant increase in women’s representation, rising from 7.7% in 2007 to 31.6% in 2012. However, the quota faced criticism, with many questioning the legitimacy of female seat holders and highlighting their perceived lack of education. This backlash contributed to a negative perception of women in parliament.
In response, President Tebboune introduced a new gender quota in 2021, offering more flexibility to political parties. The updated quota required parties to consider gender parity when submitting candidate lists, but without any penalties for failing to achieve it. Additionally, the National Liberation Front adopted a voluntary quota, requiring two of the top five candidates on each provincial list to be women. Despite these measures, women currently make up less than 8% of the National People’s Assembly.
The changing gender quotas and fluctuating levels of female representation reflect the significant challenges Algerian women face in the political arena. Despite these obstacles, three women hoped to defy the odds and compete in this year’s presidential elections.
Louisa Hanoune, the veteran
Louisa Hanoune, founder and leader of the Worker’s Party, is no stranger to the presidential race. The lawyer and political activist first attempted to run in the 1999 presidential elections, but her bid was rejected by the Constitutional Council. In 2004, she made history as the first woman in Algeria and in the Arab world to run for the presidency, though she secured only 1% of the vote. Hanoune ran again in 2009 and 2014, garnering 4.5% and 1.4% of the votes, respectively.
In 2019, she was imprisoned for “conspiring against the state and the army” and spent ten months in jail before being acquitted. This was not her first imprisonment, as she had been jailed several times in the 1980s for her political activism before political parties were legalized in Algeria.
This year, Hanoune planned to run for the fourth time but ultimately withdrew from the race in July 2024, citing “unjust” conditions that exclude some candidates and prevent citizens from choosing freely.
Zoubida Assoul, the Hirak figure
Zoubida Assoul, also a lawyer, was the first to declare her candidacy in this year’s elections. She leads the Union for Change and Progress Party and is a prominent figure of the Hirak protests. However, her candidacy was rejected by the ANIE due to insufficient signatures. Months before the decision, Assoul had expressed doubts about the ANIE’s independence, stating that “the competition does not look fair”.
Saida Neghza, the surprise
Similarly, Saida Neghza’s candidacy was not approved by the ANIE due to insufficient signatures. Before submitting her bid, Neghza had voiced concerns about the “hardships” in the process of registration and signature-gathering process and expressed her hope that “the electoral process takes place in a climate of transparency and integrity, without any favouritism”.
Neghza’s entry into Algerian politics was unexpected, as she had not been politically active until a few months ago. She is the president of the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises and was named one of the 50 most influential businesswomen in Africa by Forbes Africa. Neghza notably made headlines in September 2023 after writing a letter to President Tebboune, denouncing the challenges faced by business leaders in Algeria. However, in August 2024, she was placed under judicial supervision for suspicion of “signature sales,” along with two other rejected presidential candidates.
As Algeria prepares to choose its next president, the absence of women in the political landscape is glaring. The gender quota adopted in 2011, which significantly increased women’s representation in parliament, ultimately backfired, leading to a negative perception of female parliamentarians. The backlash resulted in the quota being replaced by a less rigid one. It would have been valuable at the time to explore why the initial quota faced such resistance.
While gender quotas have been effective in some African countries, like Rwanda, they are not universally applicable. Algeria still needs to find a tailored solution to boost women’s representation in parliament. In this year’s presidential race, three women aspired to run, but none made it to the final list of candidates. All three had previously voiced concerns about the electoral process. In the aftermath of Hirak movement, it is crucial for Algeria to ensure that more women can run for key public offices and to find ways to positively influence public perception of women in leadership roles.
The path to gender parity may seem long, but Algeria has shown in the past that remarkable progress can be made in just five years. Achieving gender representation is not only about implementing quotas and increasing numbers of seats held by women. It is also about creating an environment where women have a fair chance at leadership.