The President is the head of the Council of Ministers and the High-Security Council. The president also appoints ministers and prime minister.
This is a list of heads of state of Algeria since the formation of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) in exile in Cairo, Egypt in 1958 during the Algerian War, through independence in 1962, to the present day.
A total of five people have served as President of Algeria (not counting two Presidents of the GPRA and four interim heads of state). Additionally, two persons, Houari Boumédiène and Liamine Zéroual, have served both as interim head of state and as President of Algeria.
Former Presidents of Algeria
Here is a list of the former presidents of Algeria and a brief history of the presidents and their year in office
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella was the first president of the Republic of Algeria, serving in the position from 1963 until 1965. He was born in December 1916 at Maghania in western Algeria. After his election as a municipal councilor, he became the founding member of an underground organization meant to fight the colonial rule before getting arrested in 1951 and sentenced to eight years imprisonment where he escaped and made his way to Egypt.
Houari Boumediene
Houari Boumediene served as the chairman of the revolutionary council of Algeria from 1965 until 1976, and as the second president of Algeria from then until he died in 1978. He was born in Mohammed Ben Brahim Boukharouba in Guelma Province Algeria.
Chadli Bendjedid
Chadli Bendjedid was the third president of Algeria and ruled from January of 1979 until January of 1992. He was born in Bouteldja on April 1929. He served in the French army as the non-commissioned officer, and he fought against the FLN at the beginning of the Algeria war of independence in 1954. After independence, he raised the ranks and became his head of the second military region in 1964 where he commanded till 1978, and colonel in 1969.
Liamine Zeroual
Liamine Zeruoal was the fourth president of Algeria, heading the nation from January of 1994 until April of 1999. He was born in Batna, and at a tender age of 16, he joined the national liberation army in 1957. He took command of the military school in Batna in 1975 whereas the Cherchell military academy in 1981. He quit being the general in 1990 after a disagreement between him and President Chadli Bendjedid on proposals for the reorganization of the army.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika is an Algerian politician who was president of the country between 1999 and 2019. He was born in March of 1937 and raised in Oujda where he and his family came as emigrants. He was the foreign affairs minister from 1963 to 1979. In 2002, being the president, he presided over the end of the Algerian Civil War and also put an end to emergency rule in February of 2011. He has also served as the president of the united nation general assembly. He is the longest-serving president of Algeria followed by Houari Boumediene.
Roles of the Algerian President
The Algerian President is the head of state and chief executive of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Algeria. After independence in 1962, the president was named the head of state while the prime minister assisting in the operation of the government. In 1963, the post of the prime minister was abolished and the duties devolved to the office of the president. Several amendments have been made over the years, but the post remains an electoral seat with elections held after five years.
Presidents of Algeria since Independence from France
| Presidents of Algeria | Term in Office |
| Ahmed Ben Bella | 1963-1965 |
| Houari Boumediene | 1965-1978 |
| Chadli Bendjedid | 1979-1992 |
| Liamine Zéroual | 1994-1999 |
| Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Incumbent) | 1999-2019 |
| Abelkader Bensalah | 2019- |