CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE local elected members and the progressive disaffection of the electorate also need to be highlighted. These issues – especially the management of diversity – call for special attention on the part of political parties and public authorities. A campaign to strengthen democracy within political parties themselves would go some way to remedying some of these problems. The Algerian authorities have begun to deal with this problem by taking a series of affirmative action decisions in relation to the population from the south. The appointment of Tuaregs to the National Council (Senate) by the President of the Republic can be mentioned by way of example. 182. The CRM nonetheless considers the political pluralism of the assemblies and the noted presence of independent candidates (including within the APN where they represent an active parliamentary group, despite the dominance of the presidential alliance) to be symptomatic of the progress achieved in the sphere of electoral competition. 183. Building the democratic state and the rule of law. Following the painful interlude represented by the negation of democratic and republican values, the project of building a democratic state based on the rule of law and justice now constitutes the focus of political consensus. The Constitution has returned to being the fundamental standard organising and legitimising the powers of the various authorities. 184. An independent constitutional court (the Constitutional Council) guarantees the supremacy of the Constitution and is developing a jurisprudence that assures the compliance of legislation with the Constitution, the expression of the sovereign will of the people through their choice of representatives, the independence of the judiciary and the courts, as well as the equality of citizens in terms of rights and duties, but also before the law. 185. Limitations on the right of referral of the said Council restrict the capacity of elected representatives, and especially the parliamentary minority, to ensure that the will of the majority conforms to the Constitution. The envisaged amendment of the Constitution should extend this right of the Constitutional Council to a third or a quarter of the deputies and members of the National Council. The amendment could also pave the way for the Constitution to enshrine human rights, which do not figure in it although they are mentioned in international instruments ratified by the Algerian state, for example the right to a healthy environment, as articulated by the African Charter of Human and Peoples‟ Rights. 186. The modernisation of the legal system is an excellent initiative. It is hoped that the practices that this engenders will contribute effectively to the definitive consolidation of rule of law in Algeria. This relates certainly to the adoption of measures that are likely to improve the perception the Algerians themselves have of “the effectiveness of the provisions establishing the rule of law and the primacy of the Constitution”, at least if the results of the February 2007 opinion survey are to be taken seriously. Some 44.9 per cent of those surveyed 73