Algeria’s historical ruling party won 220 of the 462 seats up for grabs in the legislative polls while moderate Islamists suffered a setback, according to official results released yesterday.

The National Liberation Front improved its share of power from 136 to 220 seats in the national assembly, which was enlarged from 389 to 462, Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said at a press conference.

An electoral alliance of moderate Islamists that weighed 59 seats in the outgoing assembly and the four other Islamist parties contesting the vote could only muster a combined score of 66 seats.

The National Rally for Democracy (RND) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, a nationalist party close to the military and loyal to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was stable in second with 68 seats, compared to 62 in the outgoing house.

Algeria’s governing coalition so far included the FLN, the RND and the largest of the legal Islamist parties, the Movement of Society for Peace.

Yesterday’s results, which are provisional and have yet to be confirmed by the constitutional council, mean the FLN and the RND could form a majority without the Islamists.

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