Abdelmadjid Tebboune: Who Is Algeria's New President?

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, former prime minister of Algeria, has won the country's presidential election, the national electoral commission announced on Friday. Tebboune gained 58% of the vote, enough to prevent a second round.

The five presidential candidates, approved by the state, were former prime ministers Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Ali Benflis, ex-culture minister Azzedddine Mihoubi, former tourism minister Abdelkader Bengrine, and Abdelaziz Belaid, a political party leader.

All are familiar faces regarded by the protesters as part of a group that has held power since the country won independence from France in 1962.

Posts Held Previously by Abdelmadjid Tebboune

Tebboune is an laureate of the National School of Administration (ENA) of Algiers in 1965.

He was born on 17 November 1945.

He acted as Algeria’s Prime Minister from May 2017 to August 2017.

He held several administrative positions in the 1980s and was in charge of several cities (Adrar, Tiaret and Tizi Ouzou). In 1991, he became Minister Delegate for Local Government under Chadli Bendjedid.

In 2001, he chaired the Ministry of Urban Planning and Housing, under Ali Benflis. He remained there for a year before representing former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in one-off diplomatic missions in Iran and Syria.

Following the May 2017 parliamentary election, Bouteflika appointed Tebboune to succeed Sellal as Prime Minister.

Algeria Streets Occupied by Protesters 

The election had been opposed by a large protest movement that wanted the ballot put off until the entire ruling elite steps down and the military quits politics.

The military saw the vote as the only way to restore order in Algeria, Africa's largest country, a major natural gas supplier to Europe and home to 40 million people.

Following mass demonstrations in February, protesters successfully overthrew former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April. However, they don’t see their mission as complete.

The election had been opposed by a large protest movement that wanted the ballot put off until the entire ruling elite steps down and the military quits politics.

The military, the strongest political player, saw the vote as the only way to restore order in Algeria, Africa's largest country, a major natural gas supplier to Europe and home to 40 million people.