عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Features

Algeria's Tebboune, Regime Insider and Former Bouteflika Ally

Supporter reacts at the campaign headquarters of Abdelmadjid Tebboune after he was announced as the new president, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. (Reuters)
Supporter reacts at the campaign headquarters of Abdelmadjid Tebboune after he was announced as the new president, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Algeria's Tebboune, Regime Insider and Former Bouteflika Ally

Supporter reacts at the campaign headquarters of Abdelmadjid Tebboune after he was announced as the new president, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. (Reuters)
Supporter reacts at the campaign headquarters of Abdelmadjid Tebboune after he was announced as the new president, in Algiers, Algeria December 13, 2019. (Reuters)

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, declared victor on Friday in Algeria's unpopular presidential election, has spent decades at the heart of the country's establishment including a brief stint as prime minister.

Aged 74 and a senior member of the National Liberation Front (FLN) of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, he is far from being the fresh face demanded by the youth-dominated movement that forced Bouteflika from office in April.

The Hirak movement, driven by young activists in a country where half the populations is under the age of 30, has kept up weekly mass demonstrations to demand a total overhaul of the "system" in place since independence -- which Tebboune has zealously served for decades.

He began his career in local administration before becoming a regional governor during one-party rule by the FLN in the 1980s.

In 1991 he briefly served in the cabinet of then-president Chadli Bendjedid, but then left the political scene.

Tebboune, who had never stood for election until Thursday's presidential poll, "is a caricature of the perfect bureaucrat," according to a former associate, reported AFP.

Sporting a thin moustache and smoking "even in non-smoking areas", he is not known for his charisma or public speaking skills, the former associate said.

Taking office following a poll bitterly opposed by anti-government protesters, he is the first Algerian president not to enjoy the prestige of having fought in the 1954-1962 war for independence from France.

But shortly after being elected president in 1999, Bouteflika brought Tebboune out of early retirement to make him minister of communication, later entrusting him with other portfolios.

He left office in 2002, only returning to government a decade later and finally became Bouteflika's prime minister in 2017.

Tebboune was to be the shortest-serving prime minister in Algeria's history.

After launching an attack on oligarchs close to the state who were awarded huge public contracts, he was sacked just three months after taking office.

Most of those he accused are now behind bars over cases of alleged graft.

During his election campaign, Tebboune used this episode to distance himself from Bouteflika's rule.

The incoming president is married and has two sons and two daughters.

He is rumored to be close to army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who became Algeria's de facto ruler following Bouteflika's resignation.

Most Viewed

 
Features

Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
TT
20
TT

Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

Hatem Abdelhamid stands amid his once-thriving date palms in northern Sudan, helpless as a prolonged war-driven power outage cripples irrigation, causing devastating crop losses and deepening the country's food crisis.

"I've lost 70 to 75 percent of my crops this year," he said, surveying the dying palms in Tanqasi, a village on the Nile in Sudan's Northern State.

"I'm trying really hard to keep the rest of the crops alive," he told AFP.

Sudan's agricultural sector -- already battered by a two-year conflict and economic crisis -- is now facing another crushing blow from the nationwide power outages.

Since the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, state-run power plants have been repeatedly targeted, suffering severe damage and ultimately leaving farms without water.

Like most Sudanese farms, Abdelhamid's depends on electric-powered irrigation -- but the system has been down "for over two months" due to the blackouts.

Sudan had barely recovered from the devastating 1985 drought and famine when war erupted again in 2023, delivering a fresh blow to the country's agriculture.

Agriculture remains the main source of food and income for 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Now in its third year, the conflict has plunged more than half the population into acute food insecurity, with famine already taking hold in at least five areas and millions more at risk across conflict-hit regions in the west, center and south.

The war has also devastated infrastructure, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced 13 million.

A 2024 joint study by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that nearly a third of rural households have lost irrigation and water access since the war began.

Without electricity to power his irrigation system, Abdelhamid -- like thousands of farmers across the country -- was forced to rely on diesel-powered pumps.

But with fuel scarce and prices now more than 20 times higher than before the war, even that option is out of reach for many.

"I used to spend 10,000 Sudanese pounds (about four euros according to the black market rate) for irrigation each time," said another farmer, Abdelhalim Ahmed.

"Now it costs me 150,000 pounds (around 60 euros) because there is no electricity," he told AFP.

Ahmed said he has lost three consecutive harvests -- including crops like oranges, onions, tomatoes and dates.

With seeds, fertilizers and fuel now barely available, many farmers say they won't be able to replant for the next cycle.

In April, the FAO warned that "below average rainfall" and ongoing instability were closing the window to prevent further deterioration.

A June study by IFPRI also projected Sudan's overall economic output could shrink by as much as 42 percent if the war continues, with the agricultural sector contracting by more than a third.

"Our analysis shows massive income losses across all households and a sharp rise in poverty, especially in rural areas and among women," said Khalid Siddig, a senior research fellow at IFPRI.