Ara Zerhouni (1995-) was an Algerian Democratic National Rally politician who served as President of Algeria from 2021 to 2025, succeeding Fadila Habib. Following the tied elections of 2023 and 2024, Zerhouni was enabled to continue his presidency as acting President.
Biography[]
Ara Zerhouni was born in Mostaganem, Algeria in 1995 to a Sunni Muslim Berber family. He was trained as a lawyer before entering politics with the Democratic National Rally, being elected to the People's National Assembly in 2017. A popular member of the party, he was second on the party list after Fadila Habib. In the months leading up to the 2021 presidential election, Zerhouni was chosen as the RND's presidential nominee to succeed the term-limited Habib, who returned to serving as Chairwoman of the RND in the PNA. Zerhouni defeated Rally for Culture and Democracy candidate Samman Djaout with 53.3% of the vote to Djaout's 46.7%.
Presidency[]
The 26-year-old Zerhouni was backed by a PNA in which his party held 16/54 seats, the largest share; second to the RND was the RCD with 9/54 seats, followed by the FLN with 8/54. His party was on very good terms with the Socialist Forces Front and was friendly with the Workers' Party of Algeria, the Algerian Popular Movement, and the RCD, while he was neutral towards the Islamist Movement of Society for Peace, the nationalist Rally for Hope for Algeria, and the socialist FLN. Zerhouni inherited an economy of 174 million DA which was decreasing by 1 million DA weekly, and his first priority was to restore growth to the economy. Habib proposed a pollution tax which passed 37-8 in the PNA, stabilizing the economy by the turn of 2022. RND deputy Taysir Boulmerka then proposed to abolish party funding to help the budget grow, and, while the PNA voted 32-15 to abolish it, the vote failed to meet the constitutional threshold; thus, the budget stagnated at 164 million DA. The fundraising season a few weeks later saw the RND raise the most money, at 203 million DA, while the FLN and RCD died for second with 115 million DA each. Habib later proposed a car tax which passed 30-12, helping to increase the budget at the expense of popular inconvenience. The PNA then voted 41-2 to keep the government scholarship, 33-5 to increase the number of PNA seats to 70, and 38-4 against highway tolls, as the economy was already growing again. Zerhouni then oversaw the successful governmental response to a major flood, and the PNA then voted 39-4 to approve a new presidential election system by which all presidential candidates could receive popular votes. The PNA then voted 21-17 against vehicle emission limits, 24-16 for an air pollution monitor, and 26-19 to abolish the land tax (supported by half of the FFS, the FLN, the MPA, the MPS, the RCD, and the TAJ, causing a slight economic downturn). In the elections of late 2022, the RND won 33.54% and 24/70 seats, the RCD fell to 14.06% and 10/70 seats, the FLN fell to 14.05% and 10/70 seats, the FFS rose to 13.73% and 10/70 seats, the TAJ rose to 10.51% and 7/70 seats, the MPS fell to 7.74% and 5/70 seats, the PT fell to 4.5% and 3/70 seats, and the MPA fell to 1.88% and 1/70 seat. The lame duck PNA then voted 31-29 to abolish sex education to help balance the budget. A week later, Zerhouni won the election with 20.1% of the vote, defeating the disunited opposition to win a second term.
During Zerhouni's second term, the PNA voted 44-10 to keep the housing tax to prevent the stagnating economy from undergoing a recession, 56-4 against gun control (supported only by the Workers' Party), 43-10 against abolishing presidential term limits (supported only by the FLN and a faction of the FFS), 50-5 to maintain the protection of plant varieties, 44-12 to keep public housing, 35-21 to keep the stamp duty, 59-2 to keep the robbery penalty, 30-25 to approve a driving license program, 33-20 to approve highway tolls, oversaw a successful government response to a wildfire, 44-20 to create a postal service (dipping the budget into the negatives), 46-11 to lower the voting age from 18 to 16, 52-7 to abolish party funding, and 36-11 to abolish the air pollution monitor. The mid-2023 elections saw the RND fall to 31.72% and 22 seats, the FLN rise to 18.11% and 13 seats, the RCD fall to 13.94% and 10 seats, the FFS fall to 13.72% and 10 seats, the TAJ fall to 9.27% and 6 seats, the MPS fall to 6.21% and 4 seats, the PT rise to 5.4% and 4 seats, and the MPA fall to 1.62% and 1 seat.
Acting presidency[]
The ensuing presidential election saw the RND candidate Taysir Boulmerka and the FLN candidate Raheem Bouchiba tie with 15.9% of the vote, enabling Zerhouni to stay on another term as acting President. During Zerhouni's third term, the PNA voted 33-13 against an 8% electoral threshold (supported by the FFS, MPS, RCD, and TAJ), 56-3 to maintain the protection of plant varieties, 43-10 to keep public libraries, 29-22 to reduce the number of Parliament seats to 36 (failing to meet the threshold due to opposition from the RND and factions of the FLN and RCD). 41-4 to keep a citizen-elected presidency, 43-19 to abolish the school bus tax, 40-7 against the implementation of government-funded sex education, 36-23 to approve a land tax to keep the economy afloat, Zerhonui spent 20 million DA to suppress MPS protests, and 61-5 against gun control. In February 2024, the country was demoralized by a terrorist attack, making the country slightly unhappy for the first time since before 2017. The PNA then voted 59-3 in favor of an air pollution monitor and 45-11 in favor of vehicle emission limits. The elections of early 2024 saw the RND fall to 31.34% of the vote and 22 seats, the FLN rise to 18.57% and 13 seats, the RCD fall to 14.9% and 10 seats, the FFS fall to 12.26% and 9 seats, the TAJ fall to 9.21% and 6 seats, the PT rise to 7.25% and 5 seats, the MPS fall to 5.03% and 4 seats, and the MPA fall to 1.46% and 1 seat. In the ensuing presidential election, Boulmerka and RCD candidate Samman Djaout tied with 17.2% of the vote (with Bouchiba in close third with 15.9%), again forcing Zerhouni to remain President.
During Zerhouni's fourth term, the PNA voted 37-11 against eliminating presidential term limits, 19-17 against abolishing the driving license program (with 29 abstentions, mostly from the RND), 31-18 to keep the car tax, spent 150 million DA to fix an earthquake (leading to the economy diving to negative 112 million DA, with a weekly decrease of 1 million DA), 43-13 in favor of an air travel tax, 40-17 in favor of a coffee tax, 60-1 to decrease the constitutional threshold from 80% to 75%, 61-2 to maintain the public smoking ban, 50-10 to approve a travel visa program, 56-5 to approve a tobacco tax, 31-26 against a reduction of PNA seats to 54, 39-13 to keep the pollution tax, 37-13 to keep the air pollution monitor, and 36-22 to keep the land tax. At the December 2024 general election, the RND rose to 32.4% of the vote and 23 seats, while the FLN fell to 17.46% and 12 seats, the RCD rose to 16.46% and 12 seats, the FFS fell to 11.14% and 8 seats, the TAJ rose to 10.74% and 7 seats, the PT fell to 5.9% and 4 seats, the MPS rose to 5.72% and 4 seats, and the MPA fell to .19% and was eliminated from the PNA. In the presidential election held on New Year's Day, Boulmerka won 17.3% of the vote, placing ahead of RCD candidate Samman Djaout and TAJ candidate Kadar Belounis' tied 15.3% and MPS candidate Kareem Harbi and FLN candidate Burhan Partyka's 14.7%.