Algeria’s new organic law on political parties, No. 26-08, officially kicked in after its publication in Official Gazette No. 30 on Thursday, April 23. The legislation sets clear rules for forming, organizing, and running political groups.
It tightens guidelines on creation, structure, and operations for these outfits, while upholding the freedom of approved parties to operate—provided they honor the Constitution and the state’s democratic, republican nature.
Article 5 mandates that parties, from inception through all activities, align with national constants, including the three pillars of identity: Islam, Arab heritage, and Amazigh roots. It also reaffirms commitment to the 1954 November Revolution’s values, its founding manifesto, independence, sovereignty, national unity, territorial integrity, and state symbols.
The law stresses safeguarding the state’s democratic and republican character, plus the nation’s supreme interests, which parties must respect.
Parties are required to “uphold individual and collective freedoms, human rights, political pluralism, democratic practices, and peaceful power transitions; honor national security and defense needs; maintain public order and moral standards; reject violence, hate speech, or coercion in any form; and avoid using places of worship, educational institutions, training centers, or higher education facilities for partisan propaganda.”
Under Article 83, the Interior Ministry can suspend a party’s activities and shutter its premises if founders breach the Constitution, this organic law (especially Article 5), or prevailing rules. Suspensions, per Article 84, apply in three scenarios: failing to hold required organic activities as per statutes or continuing post-expired national organ mandates; internal conflicts blocking operations; or violations of Articles 47, 61, 63, 69, and 71.
Approved parties get a grace period to align statutes at their first post-law congress. Non-compliant ones have six months to fix up, or face court-ordered dissolution (Article 95).
For involuntary dissolution, the Interior Minister can seek judicial action in three cases: party actions defying the Constitution, this law, other regulations, or its own statutes; skipping candidate slates in two straight elections; or ignoring Article 84 fixes after warnings—or repeat offenses.