Abdelhamid Brahimi

After the Algerian War of Independence, he was appointed wali of the wilaya of Annaba Province, and was later made representative of the gas company Sonatrach in the United States in 1976.^[2] He briefly taught at the University of Algiers until 1975.^[4] He then served as Minister of Planning, before becoming Prime Minister of Algeria from 1984 to 1988.^[2] During his time as prime minister, he identified himself with economic liberalism and accelerated the reform process, although he controversially introduced a Family Code which was alleged to represent Islamist pressure and not the scientific character which he had identified with.^[5] He later stated that the president had faced internal opposition from senior members in the FLN, which led to them looking for other candidates and increasing dissent.^[6] In response, Bendjedid purposefully instigated trouble in October 1988, which provoked a national crisis and led to Brahimi being sacked.^[6]

In the spring of 1990 he announced that the FLN's corruption in government had cost $26 billion, which the Islamic Salvation Front heavily promoted in the lead up to the elections in June 1990.^[5]

After his ministerial role, he went into self-imposed exile in Great Britain for 26 years.^[7] He went into exile after fearing for his life due to death threats from other parties, and was unable to return as his Algerian passport was revoked.^[7] During his stay, he taught at various universities like Georgetown University and Washington University in St. Louis.^[7] He returned to Algeria in 2016 aboard a Royal Air Maroc plane, arriving in Houari Boumediene Airport.^[7] He died on 15 August 2021 in the Central Army Hospital in Algiers.^[4]