Algerian Justice Minister Ahmad Oyahya said Friday that parliamentary elections would be held next April.
Oyahya, head of the National Democratic Congregation, the largest party in the ruling coalition, said at a meeting with his party’s executives that there was no reason for any postponement of the elections.
According to the official Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA), Oyahya, who is known for his close contacts with the influential circles in the army, ended press speculations that the parliamentary and local elections would be delayed until President Abdelaziz Bouteflika carried out planned political "reforms."
The first parliamentary elections that paved the way for a house grouping Islamists, secularists and nationalists took place in June 1997.
The outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won the 1991 elections but the army cancelled the results, sparking a civil war in which more than 100,000 people have lost their lives, most of them civilians.
At the economic level, Algeria has lost some $20 billion due to the fighting, according to the agency - Albawaba.com
