POLITICS

The head of state is the President of Algeria, who is elected to a five years term. Algeria has universal suffrage at 18 years of age. The President is the head of the Council of Ministers and of the High Security Council.

The Algerian parliament is bicameral, consisting of a lower house, the National People's Assembly (APN), with 380 members; and an upper chamber, the Council Of Nation, with 144 members. The APN is elected every five years.

Under the 1976 constitution (as modified 1979, and amended in 1988, 1989, 1996, 2002 and 2008) Algeria is a multi-party state. All parties must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior. To date, Algeria has had more than 40 legal political parties. According to the constitution, no political association may be formed if it is based on differences in religion, language, race, gender or region.