Algeria’s parliament has elected Khalida Boufedeche as its first female Speaker, making her the country’s fourth-highest ranking official.
Boufedeche, an allergist and lawmaker representing Algiers, is a member of the ruling-aligned National Liberation Front (FLN), which won 91 of the 407 parliamentary seats in this month’s elections.
She takes office in a parliament where women hold just 25 seats, or about 6% of the legislature, down from 38 in the previous parliament and 118 after the 2017 elections held under a gender quota system.
The recent parliamentary elections recorded a 21% voter turnout, the lowest in Algeria’s history.

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