Algeria president replaces PM in wake of polls

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika today appointed a new prime minister, replacing his confidant Abdelmalek Sellal in the wake of parliamentary elections.
Bouteflika's National Liberation Front (FLN) and its ruling coalition won a clear majority in the May 4 polls, but turnout was low amid public disillusionment over a tepid economy and allegations of political corruption.
The president's office, quoted by national news agency APS, said the move to appoint a new premier came after Sellal submitted his government's resignation to Bouteflika following the sitting of a new national assembly on Tuesday.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who was housing minister in the outgoing government, will replace Sellal, it said.

Tebboune is seen to be close to the ailing 80-year-old president, who named him culture minister in his first government in 1999.
The 71-year-old had been housing minister since 2012.

Bouteflika "congratulated Sellal and members of the outgoing government for the work they have accomplished", the president's office said.
Algeria weathered the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings with massive spending on wages and subsidies that depleted government coffers.
But a 2014 collapse in crude oil prices forced the government of the North African country to raise taxes and mothball many public projects.