Foreign observers to monitor Algerian elections for first time

Election observers from foreign non-governmental organizations will for the first time be able to monitor a parliamentary election in Algeria later this year, the interior minister said on Tuesday.

Observers from US NGOs the Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) will oversee the elections, Daho Ould Kablia said.

"The new thing ... will be the presence of international observers from the EU, the Arab League and so on, but also international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) such as the NDI and the Carter Foundation," Kablia told Reuters.

The minister said the government, accused of manipulating past votes, would play only a logistical role in the May 10 election, while for the first time the vote will be supervised by judges and political parties.

The minister said the new parliament's mission would be to draw up a new constitution by the end of this year.

Reuters