ALGERIAS ELECTIONS - THE PRELUDE TO DEMOCRACTISATION

Faced with a political stalemate which paralysed Algeria's political l ife when the military intervened to cancel the results of the December 1991 election, the authorities have been searching for a way to retur n to the democratic process. General Zeroual, appointed President in J anuary 1994, and his collaborators have introduced a series of politic al reforms aimed at establishing a working democratic system. Algeria and its rulers seem to have learned from the failure of the first demo cratic transition (1989-92). The creation of a second chamber in the p arliament, changing the electoral law and the imposition of restraints on political parties were intended to avoid the mistakes made previou sly and have the potential of moving the country away from the politic al crisis it has experienced since January 1992.