The installation of General Abbas Ibrahim as head of the Central Directorate of Army Security (DCSA) on December 13, under a presidential decree dated December 8, is the latest move in a pattern of rapid rotations across Algeria’s security and executive branches. He replaced Mahrez Djeribi, who had led the military intelligence service since March 2023.
Recent years have seen serial changes at the top of Algeria’s intelligence organs, most notably the DGSI, where veteran officer General Abdelkader Aït Ouarabi (Hassan) returned to lead the service in May 2025.
The cadence extends well beyond the security sphere. Since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took office, Algeria has cycled through four prime ministers: Abdelaziz Djerad (2019–2021), Aymen Benabderrahmane (2021–2023), Nadir Larbaoui (November 2023–August 2025), and Sifi Ghrieb (appointed interim in August 2025 and confirmed in mid‑September).
Foreign policy leadership has also turned over. In March 2023, Ahmed Attaf replaced Ramtane Lamamra as foreign minister in a cabinet reshuffle.
The finance portfolio has seen multiple switches since 2020: Benabderrahmane (2020–2022), Abderrahmane Raouya (Feb–Jun 2022), Brahim Djamel Kassali (Jun 2022–Mar 2023), Laaziz Fayed (Mar 2023–Feb 2025), and Abdelkrim Bouzred (since Feb 2025).
Frequent reshuffles can allow the presidency to reset priorities quickly and project responsiveness. But they also shorten planning horizons, disrupt institutional memory and complicate coordination with external partners, especially in intelligence and finance, where continuity is central to performance and credibility.
The latest change at the DCSA underscores how rotation has become a governing tool, not an exception contributing to uncertainty and dysfunctional governing style that has become a distinctive feature of the regime under the leadership of the civilian-military duo of Tebboune and Chengriha.
