Abdelmadjid Tebboune

Biography

Abdelmadjid Tebboune was born in Mécheria, in western Algeria, in 1945; his father was a member of the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema, and he attended one of its schools in Sidi Bel Abbès before the war of independence. He graduated from the National School of Administration in 1969 and made his career in the state administration.

From 1983 he served as wali (governor) of Adrar, then Tiaret and Tizi Ouzou, and in 1991-92 was minister-delegate for local government under President Chadli Bendjedid. Under Abdelaziz Bouteflika he was minister of communication and culture in 1999-2000, minister-delegate for local government again, and minister of housing in 2001-02 and once more from 2012 to 2017, when he also briefly ran the commerce ministry.

In May 2017 Bouteflika unexpectedly named him prime minister, but dismissed him less than three months later, in August. After the Hirak protests forced Bouteflika out in 2019, Tebboune won the December 2019 presidential election with 58 percent on a turnout below 40 percent, and he also took the defence portfolio.

As president he sponsored a revised constitution approved by referendum in November 2020, banned street marches during the COVID-19 pandemic, and twice received treatment in Germany after contracting the virus. He was re-elected in an early election in September 2024.