Algeria elects first-ever woman speaker of parliament

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that Khalida Boufedeche, a member of Algeria’s National Liberation Front, has been elected as speaker of the country’s parliament. The outlet said the development, published on July 29, 2026, makes her the first woman to hold the post in Algeria.

The election is significant because it places a woman in one of the legislature’s most visible leadership roles for the first time. According to Al Jazeera’s brief report, the milestone comes despite women accounting for only about six percent of seats in the Algerian legislature, underscoring the gap between the symbolic importance of Boufedeche’s elevation and the broader level of female representation in parliament.

The National Liberation Front, commonly known by its French initials FLN, is one of Algeria’s best-known political organizations and has long been associated with the country’s post-independence political order. Al Jazeera’s report identifies Boufedeche with the party but does not provide details in the supplied text on the vote count, the chamber’s procedure, or the political circumstances that led to her selection.

The development will likely draw attention from observers of women’s political participation in North Africa, where formal appointments to senior offices can carry symbolic weight even when legislative representation remains limited. Based on the available source text, the confirmed points are Boufedeche’s election, her FLN affiliation, the date of publication, and Al Jazeera’s framing of the moment as historic.