Constitution: 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3
November 1988 and 23 February 1989
Legal system: socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Lamine ZEROUAL (since 31 January 1994); next
election to be held by the end of 1995
head of government: Prime Minister Mokdad SIFI (since 11 April 1994)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the prime minister
Legislative branch: unicameral; note - suspended since 1992 National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani): elections first round held on 26 December 1991 (second round canceled by the military after President BENDJEDID resigned 11 January 1992, effectively suspending the Assembly); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (281 total); the fundamentalist FIS won 188 of the 231 seats contested in the first round; note - elections (provincial and municipal) were held in June 1990, the first in Algerian history; results - FIS 55%, FLN 27.5%, other 17.5%, with 65% of the voters participating
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Political parties and leaders: Islamic Salvation Front (FIS, outlawed April 1992), Ali BELHADJ, Dr. Abassi MADANI, Abdelkader HACHANI (all under arrest), Rabeh KEBIR (self-exile in Germany); National Liberation Front (FLN), Abdelhamid MEHRI, Secretary General; Socialist Forces Front (FFS), Hocine Ait AHMED, Secretary General note: the government established a multiparty system in September 1989 and, as of 31 December 1990, over 50 legal parties existed
Member of: ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-15,
G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM,
OAPEC, OAS (observer), OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNMIH, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Osmane BENCHERIF chancery: 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2800
US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador Ronald E. NEUMANN embassy: 4 Chemin Cheikh Bachir El-Ibrahimi, Algiers mailing address: B. P. Box 549, Alger-Gare, 16000 Algiers telephone: [213] (2) 69-11-86, 69-18-54, 69-38-75 FAX: [213] (2) 69-39-79 consulate(s): none (Oran closed June 1993)