Of the 14 presidents whom Algeria has known since its independence from France on July 5, 1962, only two are still alive: Liamine Zeroual and Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the latter being the longest-serving in office.

This number of presidents appears to be more standard than the rest of the Arab countries, which have gained independence. Their leaders have rarely given up power. Al-Qaeda has been forced to leave either by death, coup, murder or khula, except for the post-independence presidents in Algeria.

The tragic endings were marked by murder and assassination, as happened with President Mohamed Boudiaf in the early bloody decade of 1992.

Abdul Rahman Fares
The name of Abdel Rahman Fares is hardly a place in the memory of the Algerians, despite being legal and a lawyer who supervised the referendum for independence, which took place on July 1, 1962, which received the message of French recognition of Algeria's independence from General Charles de Gaulle two days after the referendum.

Some historians consider Fares the first effective president of Algeria, where he presided over the interim executive of the country from July 3, 1962 until September of the same year. In the aftermath of the conflicts that followed independence, Fares was put on top of the finances, and then President Ahmed Ben Bella was imprisoned. After the coup d'état of Houari Boumedienne on June 19, 1965, he was released, but he moved away from politics until he died in 1991.

Ahmed Ben Bella
The presidency of Ahmed Ben Bella, the first president of Algeria after independence, did not last long. He barely spent twenty months in office (15 October 1963 until 19 June 1965) until he was ousted by a military coup led by Defense Minister Houari Boumediene, "A revolutionary correction".

The Boumediene coup did not break the specter of bloodshed, with 83 Ben Bella supporters in skirmishes with the perpetrators of the coup, while Ben Bella was in prison. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's efforts to release his friend were unsuccessful. Ben Bella spent 15 years in prison until a presidential pardon was issued in 1980, after which he left for France.

Boumediene on the bed of death
Many may not know that the real name of Algerian President Houari Boumedienne is Mohamed Ibrahim Boukhrouba, but he was able to win the name he chose for a wide audience among the presidents of the world, especially in the Non-Aligned Movement. He was a competitor for Arab issues, From 1965 to 1978.

Tunisian writer Net Said said in his book "fever" that as Boumediene lying in bed and dying after the disease intensified in the winter of his last year, sat around his bed some of his closest associates. Boumediene's assistants were surprised by his regret for what he had done against the companion of his coach, Ahmed Ben Bella, and said that he would like to correct the damage to "Si Ahmed".

The author of the book attributed to Bouteflika his response to Boumediene, trying to dispel him by saying: "Ben Bella may be wrong, but - Mr. President - the big mistakes of the big men ... and the mistakes of men as much as their actions.

Shazly Ben New
Despite its military development, which has been crowned by the Ministry of Defense, many believe that Algerian President Chazli Bennid, who took over from Boumediene until 1992, has given a relatively democratic character to the country. He adopted a pluralistic constitution in 1989 and abandoned the one- In July 1991, and served to ease the state's grip on the economy and its security grip on citizens.

The resignation of Bennadid (who died in 2012) has been controversial until now, between a team he believes he has voluntarily presented and another who believes he was forced to do so, considering the resignation as a death of democracy in Algeria, where the army intervened to stop this course after he came to the Islamists. The results of the elections to enter the country a spiral of bloody violence.

Mohamed Boudiaf
After the resignation of Bennadid and after the suspension of the electoral process, the couriers called Mohamed Boudiaf - who lived for 27 years outside his country, traveling between Morocco and France - to return to Algeria to head the Supreme Council of the State.

Boudiaf's days in office were limited, and the man who had been called since the Algerian liberation revolution, one of whose men was known as Si Tayeb al-Watani, appeared to have been summoned to his death. He was assassinated in mysterious circumstances while delivering a speech in the city of Annaba on 29 June 1992.

Ali Kafi
The rescue man was at a critical stage for the country after taking over the leadership of the Supreme State Council, replacing Bodef.

He could not stop the slide towards violence and did not leave a big fingerprint during his time in the command post until he handed over power to his successor.

Right Zeroual
He came to power in 1994 after being chosen by the National Seminar and obtained "political legitimacy" after winning the 1995 presidential election.

Began a path of negotiation with the leaders of the armed groups, chose the withdrawal before the end of his mandate, and oversaw the organization of presidential elections that brought Bouteflika to power in 1999.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika
The longest-serving president in power, having sealed 20 years in power before deciding to resign on April 2, 2019, following the biggest popular protests in Algeria's modern history.

Bouteflika's presidency saw a boom in oil prices that allowed massive development projects to be launched, but the spread of corruption and business tycoons surrounding his happy brother in recent years paved the way for demonstrations on February 22, 2019, which ended Bouteflika's fifth mandate and forced him to resign.