Bouteflika's ruling National Liberation Front wins Algeria election

Algeria's ruling National Liberation Front has won legislative elections in a blow for the Islamists who were hoping to ride on the Arab Spring's tide of democratic change. 

Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika casts his ballot at a polling station in Algiers, 10 May, 2012 Reuters/Zohra Bensemra

The regime claims the results show the country’s desire for stability, at a time when regime change was bringing chaos to other countries, and outright rejection of Islamism, whose rise 20 years ago led to civil war.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's National Liberation Front, FLN, won 220 out of 462 seats up for grabs in Thursday's legislative elections, improving on its share in the outgoing national assembly.

The seven Islamist parties contesting the polls could only manage a combined 59 seats, a major setback after their predictions of victory during the campaign.

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

One notable change was the number of elected women, which rose to 145 from seven in the outgoing assembly following the introduction of quotas.

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

Green Algeria, a three-party Islamist alliance, won just 48 seats and charged widespread fraud.

Turnout had been expected to be low after a campaign that produced no new faces and failed to draw crowds.

But Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia announced a rate of 42.36 per cent which he said confirmed Algeria's democratic credentials.