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Rabat — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune dismissed his country’s Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui on Thursday.
Following the unexpected move, Tebboune appointed Industry Minister Sifi Ghrieb as the interim replacement, according to an official statement.
The president signed a decree that offered no explanation for his choice.
However, the outgoing prime minister’s absence from a recent meeting about transportation issues had reportedly raised questions on social media.
The meeting came after a local bus accident that killed 18 people.
Some are speculating whether the strange decision is tied to the unexplained 20-day absence that the Algerian president took from the political scene, which has raised concerns among many.
Algerians took to social media to comment on the news, saying that the unexpected change is just a political game that will have no good results. One commentator said on Instagram: “This is not a radical change, it’s just a card play.”
Larbaoui had served as prime minister since November 2023.
A former lawyer, he built his career in diplomacy. He served as Algeria’s ambassador to several countries and as the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
Tebboune appointed him as chief of staff in March 2023 before promoting him to prime minister later that year.
The government has not announced when it will name a permanent replacement for the prime minister position.
The interim prime minister, Ghrieb, will continue to serve as Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production alongside his new role. Before joining the government, he held various positions, including chairman of the board of Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS), a joint Qatari-Algerian company.
The sudden dismissal comes at a time when the Algerian regime faces various economic, political, and social challenges, with a government that critics argue seems to be more occupied with interfering with other countries’ domestic affairs than solving problems at home.
Algerians, fellow Maghrebi leaders, and other actors concerned with the region’s politics continue to wait with no answers for an official explanation for this unexpected dismissal.
