Khalida Boufedeche Elected as Algeria's First Female Parliamentary Speaker

The Algerian National Assembly elected Khalida Boufedeche as its speaker on Tuesday evening, making her the first woman to lead the lower house and the highest-ranking woman to hold constitutional office in the country's history. A medical doctor and allergist, Boufedeche is now the fourth-highest ranking state official in Algeria.

Representing the ruling National Liberation Front, Boufedeche won the position with 302 votes. She defeated Amin Allouche of the Movement for Society for Peace, who received 57 votes, and Rachid Hassani of the Rally for Culture and Democracy, who received seven votes. The election followed a roll call of the 10th legislative term based on results certified by the Constitutional Court.

This leadership transition follows parliamentary elections held on July 2, where the National Liberation Front emerged as the largest party with 91 seats. However, those elections were characterized by a record-low voter turnout of 21 percent. Boufedeche assumes leadership of a legislative body where women remain significantly underrepresented, holding only 25 of the 407 available seats.