Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune dismissed Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui on Thursday. Larbaoui had held the position since November 2023. Industry Minister Sifi Ghrieb has been appointed interim Prime Minister, according to an official statement that gave no reason for the dismissal.
The president signed a decree that provides no explanation for his decision. However, Larbaoui’s absence from a transport meeting following a recent bus accident, which left 18 people dead in Oued El Harrach, Algiers, an area turned into a sewer, has drawn attention.
The interim Prime Minister will also retain his position as Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production. Ghrieb, who holds a PhD in materials physics and chemistry from the University of Annaba, was appointed to the ministry after serving in various roles, including as chairman of the board of Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS), a joint Qatari-Algerian company.
Mr. Larbaoui, a former lawyer, had a long diplomatic career, serving as ambassador in several countries and as Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, before being appointed President Tebboune’s chief of staff in March 2023.