More than 60 lawmakers walked out of the inaugural session of parliament in Algeria, in protest at alleged fraud in recent elections. The MPs, mostly from a Islamist coalition, waved banners that said “Say ‘no’ to fraud”, before leaving after a roll call of new members. The party claims the polls two weeks ago were fixed in favour of the ruling FLN party and its coalition partners. Algeria was one of the few states in the region to avoid unrest last year.
Those who walked out included 49 members of the moderate Green Algeria Alliance (AVV) – who had expected to do well in the polls – and 11 members of smaller parties. “We decided to withdraw from the first session of the National Assembly and protest officially against the results of the ballot,” the AVV said in a statement.
Full Article: BBC News – Algeria MPs stage parliamentary walkout over ‘poll fraud’.