Algeria Officially Swears In New President

Algeria swore in its new president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, on Thursday, a week after an election that was rejected by a mass protest movement as a charade designed to keep the old ruling elite in power.

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Tebboune, a former prime minister who won 58% of the vote on an official turnout of 40%, has offered a dialogue with the protest movement in an effort to end 10 months of mass street protests.

THE NEW PRESIDENT

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, once a close Bouteflika ally, was prime minister for less than three months in 2017 but was sacked when he tried to take on powerful business figures accused of corruption.

The four other candidates in the election approved by state authorities were all former senior officials including another former prime minister, two former ministers, and a former member of the ruling party’s executive committee.

THE OUSTED OLD GUARD

Bouteflika, also a veteran of Algeria’s war of independence, helped end the 1990s conflict between the state and Islamist militants and was made president in 1999.

After he was pushed from power in April, his brother and de facto regent Said Bouteflika was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring against the army.

Their main rival in the power structure, internal security chief Mohamed Mediene, was jailed alongside him.

While many other Bouteflika allies are also on trial or in prison, some of his network retain powerful positions, including interim president Abdelkadar Bensalah and prime minister Noureddine Bedoui.