Abdelmadjid Tebboune

Early life and education

Abdelmadjid Tebboune was born on 17 November 1945 in Mécheria, in the current Naâma Province, in Algeria, back then Aïn-Sefra territory. He comes from a family from the commune of Boussemghoun, currently in El Bayadh Province, located in the region of the High Plains of southwest Algeria. His father was a sheikh member of the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema (and Abdelmadjid studied in a school that was controlled by the Association of Ulema in Sidi Bel Abbes before the start of Algerian War between 1953 and 1954) and also a soldier. He graduated from the National School of Administration on 29 July 1969.

Political career

Tebboune was Minister-Delegate for Local Government from 1991 to 1992, during the last months of Chadli Benjedid's presidency. Later, under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, he served in the government as Minister of Communication and Culture from 1999 to 2000 and then as Minister-Delegate for Local Government from 2000 to 2001. He was the Minister of Housing and Urban Planning from 2001 to 2002. Ten years later, in 2012, he returned to the post of Minister of Housing in the government of Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal.

Following the May 2017 parliamentary election, President Bouteflika appointed Tebboune to succeed Sellal as prime minister on 24 May 2017. The appointment of Tebboune surprised Algerian political elites, who had expected Sellal to be reappointed. The new government headed by Tebboune was appointed on 25 May.

Tebboune served as prime minister for less than three months. Bouteflika dismissed him and appointed Ahmed Ouyahia to succeed him on 15 August 2017; Ouyahia took office the next day.

On 12 December 2019, Tebboune was elected president following the 2019 Algerian presidential election, after taking 58% from a turnout of less than 40% the voters, against candidates from both main parties (the National Liberation Front and the Democratic National Rally). On 19 December, he assumed office and received the National Order of Merit from the acting President Abdelkader Bensalah. He was re-elected for a second term in 2024 with an overwhelming majority, securing 84.3% of the votes cast.

Presidency

On the eve of the first anniversary of the Hirak Movement, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced in a statement to the Algerian national media that 22 February would be declared the Algerian "National Day of Fraternity and Cohesion Between The People and Its Army For Democracy." In the same statement, Tebboune spoke in favor of the Hirak Movement, saying that "the blessed Hirak has preserved the country from a total collapse" and that he had "made a personal commitment to carry out all of the [movement's] demands." On 21 and 22 February 2020, masses of demonstrators (with turnout comparable to well-established Algerian holidays like the Algerian Day of Independence) gathered to honor the anniversary of the Hirak Movement and the newly established national day.

In an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Tebboune announced on 17 March 2020 that "marches and rallies, whatever their motives" would be prohibited. After protestors and journalists were arrested for participating in such marches, Tebboune faced accusations of attempting to "silence Algerians." The government's actions were condemned by Amnesty International, which said in a statement that "when all eyes [...] are on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Algerian authorities are devoting time to speeding up the prosecution and trial of activists, journalists, and supporters of the Hirak movement." CNLD estimated that around 70 prisoners of conscience were imprisoned by 2 July 2020 and that several of the imprisoned were arrested for Facebook posts.

On 28 December 2019, the then-recently inaugurated President Tebboune met with Ahmed Benbitour, the former Algerian Head of Government, with whom he discussed the "foundations of the new Republic."

On 8 January 2020, Tebboune established a "commission of experts" composed of 17 members (a majority of which were professors of constitutional law) responsible for examining the previous constitution and making any necessary revisions. Led by Ahmed Laraba, the commission was required to submit its proposals to Tebboune directly within the following two months. In a letter to Laraba on the same day, Tebboune outlined seven axes around which the commission should focus its discussion. These areas of focus included strengthening citizens' rights, combatting corruption, consolidating the balance of powers in the Algerian government, increasing the oversight powers of parliament, promoting the independence of the judiciary, furthering citizens' equality under the law, and constitutionalizing elections. Tebboune's letter also included a call for an "immutable and intangible" two-term limit to anyone serving as president — a major point of contention in the initial Hirak Movement protests, which were spurred by former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's announced intention to run for a fifth term.

Honours

National

Grand Master and Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit

Foreign

Italy:

Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (3 November 2021)

Palestine:

Grand Collar of the State of Palestine (6 December 2021)

Tunisia:

Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia (15 December 2021)

Jordan:

Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance (4 December 2022)

Portugal:

Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (23 May 2023)

Russia:

Medal of the Order of Friendship (15 June 2023)

Oman:

Grand Collar of the Order of Al Said (29 October 2024)

Turkey:

Collar of the Order of the State of the Republic of Turkey (7 May 2026)

Angola:

Collar of the Order of Agostinho Neto (11 May 2026)

Personal life

Tebboune is a heavy smoker. He is married to Fatima Zohra Bella, and has five children: Saloua, Maha, Salaheddine Ilyes, Mohamed and Khaled.