Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic

Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic
Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic
; Cabinet of Algeria
Date formed	19 September 1958
Date dissolved	25 September 1962
People and organisations
Head of government	Ferhat Abbas and Benyoucef Benkhedda
Member parties	National Liberation Front
Status in legislature	Coalition

Algerian Republic
للجمهورية الجزائرية
*République algérienne*
Algerian Republic للجمهورية الجزائرية; République algérienne
1958–1962
	Flag Seal
	Anthem: "Kassaman"
Capital	Algiers (de jure until 1962)
Capital-in-exile	Cairo (1958-1960); Tunis (1960-1962)
Common languages	Arabic; French
Government	Government in exile
President
• 1958–1961	Ferhat Abbas
• 1961–1962	Benyoucef Benkhedda
Historical era	Decolonization of Africa
• Beginning of Algerian War	1 November 1954
• GPRA proclaimed	19 September 1958
• Évian Accords	19 March 1962
• GPRA seated in Algiers	1 July 1962
• Independence proclaimed	5 July 1962
• People's Democratic Republic of Algeria established	25 September 1962
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	French Algeria
Algeria

The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (Arabic: الحكومة المؤقتة للجمهورية الجزائرية, ح م ج ج; French: Gouvernement provisoire de la République algérienne, GPRA) was the government-in-exile of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) during the latter part of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62).

Creation and purpose

The GPRA was set up in Cairo, Egypt, by the FLN on September 19, 1958, four years into the Algerian War of Independence.^[1] Its first President was the moderate nationalist Ferhat Abbas, who had for decades insisted on trying to peacefully reform the French colonial system, before finally despairing and joining the FLN's armed struggle. He was once re-elected to the post, in 1960, but as early as the following year he was sidelined and replaced by Benyoucef Benkhedda, who held the presidency as Algeria was declared independent.

The purpose of the GPRA was to serve as a diplomatic and political tool for the FLN. It allowed sympathetic governments to extend official recognition to it (among those that did were neighbouring Morocco and Tunisia, as well as Nasserite Egypt, other Arab countries, and Pakistan). Its headquarters were located in Tunis, but diplomats were posted in most major world capitals to try to lobby governments and organize local support groups. It was partly intended to serve as a preemptive diplomatic strike against a proposal by French President Charles de Gaulle to hold a referendum by which Algeria would be given an autonomous status within France.^[2]

1962 Algerian crisis

After the war, the Algerian crisis period began and infighting broke out in FLN ranks. Benkhedda of the GPRA briefly held power in Tizi Ouzou, but there was no unified power for the whole country. Ahmed Ben Bella entered Algeria with the National Liberation Army (ALN) and established his headquarters in Tlemcen in July. By 9 September, the ALN entered Algiers and Ben Bella declared that the crisis ended.^[3] In late 1962, the GPRA was disbanded, after Ahmed Ben Bella seized power through forming a rival institution (a Political Bureau of the FLN) with the backing of the National Liberation Army (ALN), controlled by Col. Houari Boumédiène. An attempt by GPRA politicians and loyal guerrilla units to resist the military-backed takeover was crushed in a short but intense burst of internal fighting. A compromise forced by Boumédiène saw most of the provisional government enter an expanded Political Bureau, and the GPRA itself was dissolved.^[4] A one-party state under Ben Bella's command was then set up, after a constitution had been approved in elections by 99.6% of voters for the new republic.^[5]

While some^[who?] argue that this broke the institutional continuity between the war-time GPRA and the present Algerian state, the Algerian presidency and government is still normally regarded as the GPRA's post-independence successor.

List of members of the GPRA

The GPRA was reformed twice, in 1960 and 1961, with the change of ministers and portfolios to some extent reflecting the shifts of power within the FLN. Below is a list of the three versions of the GPRA.^[6]

The first GPRA: 1958–60

Ferhat Abbas – President
Colonel Krim Belkacem – Vice President and Minister of the Armed Forces
Ahmed Ben Bella – Minister of State
Hocine Aït Ahmed – Minister of State
Rabah Bitat – Minister of State
Mohamed Boudiaf – Minister of State
Mohamed Khider – Minister of State
Mohamed Lamine Debaghine – Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mahmoud Cherif – Minister of Armaments and Provisions
Lakhdar Ben Tobbal – Minister of the Interior
Abdelhafid Boussouf – Minister of General Relations and Communications
Abdelhamid Mehri – Minister of Maghreb Affairs
Ahmed Francis – Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs
Mhamed Yazid – Minister of Information
Benyoucef Benkhedda – Minister of Social Affairs
Ahmed Tewfik El Madani – Minister of Cultural Affairs

Ministerial reshuffle at 15 March 1959

Lamine Khene – Secretary of State
Omar Oussedik – Secretary of State
Mustapha Stambouli

The second GPRA: 1960–61

Ferhat Abbas – President
Colonel Krim Belkacem – Vice President, and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ahmed Ben Bella – Minister of State
Hocine Aït Ahmed – Minister of State
Rabah Bitat – Minister of State
Mohamed Boudiaf – Minister of State
Mohamed Khider – Minister of State
Colonel Saïd Mohammedi – Minister of State
Abdelhamid Mehri – Minister of Social and Cultural Affairs
Abdelhafid Boussouf – Minister of Armaments and of General Relations
Ahmed Francis – Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs
Mhamed Yazid – Minister of Information
Lakhdar Ben Tobbal – Minister of the Interior

The third GPRA: 1961–62

Benyoucef Benkhedda – President, and Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs
Colonel Krim Belkacem – Vice President, Minister of the Interior of Foreign Affairs
Ahmed Ben Bella – Vice President
Mohamed Boudiaf – Vice President
Hocine Aït Ahmed – Minister of State
Rabah Bitat – Minister of State
Mohamed Khider – Minister of State
Lakhdar Ben Tobbal – Minister of State
Colonel Saïd Mohammedi – Minister of State
Saad Dahlab – Minister of Foreign Affairs
Abdelhafid Boussouf – Minister of Armamaments and of General Relations
Mhamed Yazid – Minister of Information

References

^ First declaration of the GPRA Première Déclaration du Gouvernement Provisoire Algérien (in French)
^ Library of Congress, United States - Country Study: Algeria
^ Ottaway, David; Ottaway, Marina (2022-03-25). Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution. Univ of California Press. pp. 17–24. ISBN 978-0-520-35711-2.
^ Library of Congress, United States - Country Study: Algeria
^ Library of Congress, United States - Country Study: Algeria
^ Private web site - Algerian History

Literature

Achour Cheurfi, La classe politique algérienne, de 1900 à nos jours. Dictionnaire biographique (Casbah Editions, 2nd edition, Algiers 2006)
Jacques Duchemin, Histoire du F. L. N. (Editions Mimouni, Algiers 2006)
Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962 (Viking 1977)
McDougall, James, A History of Algeria (Cambridge University Press 2017)
McDougall, James, History and the culture of nationalism in Algeria (Cambridge University Press 2006)
Benjamin Stora, Algeria. 1830-2000. A Short History (Cornell University Press, United States 2004)