Liamine Zeroual

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1943 -

President of Algeria, 1994 - 1999.

Born in Batna, Liamine Zeroual (also al-Amin Zirwal) joined Algeria's National Liberation Army (ALN) at the age of sixteen. Later he attended a military school in the Soviet Union and France's Ecole de Guerre. Upon his return, he took over the military school of the National Popular Army (ANP) in Batna. Zeroual held various operational jobs within the ANP, including that of commander of the prestigious Military Academy in Cherchell. He earned the rank of general in 1988 and commanded the Land Forces. Zeroual resigned from the ANP in 1989 because of a conflict with President Chadli Bendjedid about the restructuring of the military. He was appointed ambassador to Romania in 1990. In 1991 he retired to Batna.

After Bendjedid was deposed in 1992, Algeria was ruled by the High State Council. In 1993 General Khaled Nezzar, a powerful member of the Council, called Zeroual back from retirement as his replacement as minister of defense. In January 1994, with the dissolution of the Council, Zeroual was appointed president of Algeria. In November 1995 he was elected president with 60 percent of the popular vote in the country's first pluralist presidential election. His mission was to reestablish peace and security, to build legitimate state institutions, and to break with the old regime. Zeroual was able to build an institutional edifice. A political party, the Rassemblement National Démocratique (RND), was created in February 1997 to support his policies. The party obtained the majority in the June 1997 legislative elections. In a surprise move, Zeroual announced on 11 September 1998 that he would step down in February 1999. In April 1999 Abdelaziz Bouteflika, following a controversial election, became his successor.

Bibliography

Quandt, William B. Between Ballots and Bullets: Algeria's Transition from Authoritarianism. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998.

Zoubir, Yahia H. "The Algerian Political Crisis: Origins and Prospects for Democracy." Journal of North African Studies 3, no. 1 (spring 1998).

Zoubir, Yahia H., and Youcef Bouandel. "Algeria's Elections: Prelude to Democratization?" Third World Quarterly 19, no. 2 (June 1998): 177 - 190.

— MIA BLOOM
UPDATED BY YAHIA ZOUBIR