Algeria made history on Tuesday when the National People's Assembly — the lower house of parliament — elected Khalida Boufedech as its speaker, making her the first woman to hold the position since the country's independence in 1962. Boufedech, a 44-year-old allergist and clinical immunologist who spent her career in Algeria's public health system, won 302 of 366 votes cast in a secret ballot, defeating two other candidates. She now holds one of the most senior roles in the Algerian state, ranking among the country's highest constitutional officeholders.

Boufedech is a member of the National Liberation Front (FLN), the historic party that led Algeria's independence struggle against France and has remained a dominant force in national politics. The FLN was the leading party in parliamentary elections held earlier in July, capturing 91 of the assembly's 407 seats. A long-time FLN activist, Boufedech previously served two terms on a local municipal council in Bordj El Bahri, a district of the capital Algiers, and later won a seat on the Algiers provincial assembly in 2021. Her election to the National People's Assembly this month was her first entry into the national parliament. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received her at the presidential palace the day after her election.

The landmark appointment carries a degree of irony, however. Boufedech takes charge of a chamber that is far less representative of women than its predecessors. Only 25 women were elected in this month's vote, accounting for just six percent of the 407-seat body. That is a sharp decline from previous parliaments: the assembly seated 38 women after the last election cycle, and 118 after the 2017 elections, which were held under a quota system that was subsequently abandoned. The elections themselves were also marked by the lowest voter turnout ever recorded in Algeria, at just 21 percent.

In her first address as speaker, Boufedech described her election as