On Saturday, November 11, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune appointed Chief of Staff Nadir Larbaoui to the position of prime minister. The 74-year-old career diplomat, a former ambassador to the United Nations (UN), has replaced Aymen Benabderrahmane, "whose duties have been terminated," in the words of a communiqué from the presidency.
Having held the position since June 2021, without any actual power, the self-effacing and uncharismatic Benabderrahmane had long been the subject of thinly veiled criticism from the president. Tebboune blamed him for the country's problems, among them shortages of some food products.
The change of prime minister has come as no surprise, especially as it occurred just over a month after a reorganization of the president's office.
Nine advisors have been appointed, and their missions appear to duplicate those of the government. Their duties include "monitoring and participating in the implementation of the agenda, guidelines and decisions of the President of the Republic, and reporting to him"; "monitoring economic affairs, government activities and political and institutional matters, and reporting on developments"; and "informing the President of the Republic about the country's political, economic, social and cultural conditions and developments, and providing him with the information he needs to make decisions."
Although the decree regarding this reorganization has stipulated that the operations of the administration "are not intended to replace the relevant departments and authorities, nor to interfere in the exercise of their assignments," the move has been perceived by several observers as creating a duplicate government, and as signifying a desire to further centralize decision-making almost a year ahead of the presidential election scheduled for December 2024.
One of the pillars of this arrangement is former judge Boualem Boualem, a friend of the president's who has been appointed interim cabinet director. He is in charge of legal affairs, departmental liaison, investigations and authorizations.
These changes have come at a time when President Tebboune appears to be preparing to run for a second term in the 2024 elections. Although the 77-year-old president has not yet officially announced his candidacy, as long as he keeps the support of the army − and given that he has been ruling without any real political opposition since the start of the crackdown on the Hirak (protest movement) in 2019 − there is currently no one capable of challenging him.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, stressed at the end of his September visit to Algeria that the government must "tackle the climate of fear triggered by a series of criminal charges against individuals, organizations, trade unions and political parties under excessively restrictive laws, including an anti-terrorism law that goes against Algeria's international human rights obligations."
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.