Abdelkader Bensalah
عبد القـادر بن صالح
Bensalah in 2019
Head of State of Algeria
Acting
9 April 2019 – 19 December 2019
Prime MinisterNoureddine Bedoui
Preceded byAbdelaziz Bouteflika
(President)
Succeeded byAbdelmadjid Tebboune
(President)
President of the Council of the Nation
In office
2 July 2002 – 9 April 2019
Preceded byBachir Boumaza
Succeeded bySalah Goudjil
(Acting)
President of the People's National Assembly
In office
14 June 1997 – 10 June 2002
Preceded byHimself
(President of the National Transitional Council)
Succeeded byKarim Younes
Personal details
Born(1941-11-24)24 November 1941
Fellaoucene, Algeria
Died22 September 2021(2021-09-22) (aged 79)
Algiers, Algeria
Political partyNational Liberation Front (1959–1997)
Democratic National Rally (1997–2019)

Abdelkader Bensalah (Arabic: عبد القـادر بن صالح, romanized: ʿAbd āl-Qādar bin Ṣāliḥ, 24 November 1941 – 22 September 2021) was an Algerian politician. He served as the President of the Council of the Nation, the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Algeria, between 2002 and 2019.

After President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had ruled the country for 20 years, resigned in April 2019, Bensalah served as the Acting Head of State of Algeria until Abdelmadjid Tebboune took office after winning the presidential election in December 2019.

Political career

After working in Beirut to direct the Algerian Center for Information and Culture from 1970 to 1974, Bensalah returned to Algeria to work as a journalist at the state newspaper El Chaâb for three years, before being elected to represent the Tlemcen Province in 1977. Twelve years later, he was appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a position he held until 1993.[1][2]

As a member of the centrist Democratic National Rally (RND), he was President of the National Transitional Council from 1994 to 1997[3] and of the People's National Assembly from 1997 to 2002.[4]

From July 2002 to April 2019, he served as President of the Council of the Nation, the upper house of the parliament.[1] He replaced Abdelaziz Bouteflika for some presidential duties, like welcoming foreign leaders to Algeria, during the last part of the former President's tenure.[5] He was a strong ally of the latter, supporting his fifth candidacy even during the 2019 Algerian protests.[5]

As provided for under article 102 of the Algerian Constitution, he became acting Head of State of Algeria on 9 April 2019, seven days after the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika.[6][7] His term lasted for a maximum of 90 days while the presidential election should have been held. By law, he was barred from participating in that election.[2][8] On 19 December 2019, he received the National Order of Merit from President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.[9][10]

Personal life and death

Abdelkader Bensalah was born on 24 November 1941, in Felaoussene, close to Tlemcen,[11][12] then part of French Algeria.

Bensalah died from cancer at the Aïn Nadja Military Hospital in Algiers on 22 September 2021, aged 79, with his health worsening after contracting COVID-19.[13] His death, which occurred just five days after the death of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was announced by the Office of the President.[14] Flags were ordered to fly at half-mast for three days in mourning.[15] He was buried at the El Alia Cemetery on 23 September.[16]

Honours

National honour

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References

  1. 1 2 Hana Saada (27 March 2019). "Algeria: Who is Abdelkader Bensalah, the future head of state?". DZ Breaking. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Abdelkader Bensalah, un fidèle de Bouteflika qui va assurer l'intérim en Algérie". Le Monde (in French). 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "ALGERIA: parliamentary elections Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani, 1997". archive.ipu.org.
  4. ↑ "Algérie : qui est Abdelkader Bensalah, l'homme qui devrait prendre la succession d'Abdelaziz Bouteflika après sa démission ?". LCI. 9 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Algeria's next in line: Bouteflika loyalist Abdelkader Bensalah". France 24. 2 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Algeria's next in line: Bouteflika loyalist Abdelkader Bensalah". France 24. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Algeria protest: Abdelkader Bensalah named interim president". BBC. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "Algerian Constitutional Council declares presidency vacant". TASS. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  9. 1 2 "تبون يمنح وسام الاستحقاق "صدر" لعبد القادر بن صالح". ennaharonline.com (in Arabic). 19 December 2019.
  10. 1 2 "President Tebboune awards Order of National Merit with rank of Sadr to Bensalah, Gaid Salah". Algeria Press Services. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "السيرة الذاتية للسيد عبد القادر بن صالح رئيس مجلس الأمة". Site officiel du conseil de la nation. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  12. ↑ https://www.lesoirdalgerie.com/articles/2015/02/28/article.php?sid=175294&cid=2
  13. ↑ Zeidane, Karim (22 September 2021). "Algérie: décès de l'ancien président de la transition Abdelkader Bensalah" [Algeria: Death of former transitional president Abdelkader Bensalah]. Le360 (in French). Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Algeria's ex-interim president Abdelkader Bensalah dies at 79". The National. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  15. ↑ Allal, Mohamed (22 September 2021). "وفاة الرئيس الجزائري السابق عبد القادر بن صالح" [The death of former Algerian President Abdelkader Bensalah]. Sky News Arabia (in Arabic). Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "Abdelkader Bensalah inhumé au cimetière d'El-Alia" [Abdelkader Bensalah buried in El-Alia cemetery]. Algeria Press Service (in French). 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
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