Benabderrahmane Named Algerian Prime Minister Following Boycotted Elections

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Wednesday tapped Finance Minister  Aymen Benabderrahmane to form a government and serve as the country’s prime minister during a time of growing unrest, three weeks after a parliamentary election that saw record-low turnout. Benabderrahmane, 60, is a former central bank governor and will be tasked with steering Algeria through some troubled waters, which include a poverty rate of over 12% and millions of disillusioned citizens protesting in the streets. The June 12 election, drawing only 23% of eligible voters, was widely protested by the popular Hirak movement and its supporters, who managed to topple longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019 but have remained unsatisfied with his successor’s tepid reforms. Several of the group’s top leaders were arrested days before polls opened while demonstrations were banned and violently dispersed by police, leading millions of Algerians to accuse Tebboune of following in Bouteflika’s ways.