The unpopular Algerian Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Ouyahia, resigned yesterday. State-run media said a career diplomat, Mr Ismail Hamdani (68), would succeed Mr Ouyahia (46).
Opposition parties had demanded Mr Ouyahia's dismissal, accusing him of having failed to stop "widespread cheating" in favour of the main ruling National Democratic Rally (RND) party in the local elections of 1997.
Enemies also held him responsible for the government's failure to end rampant violence involving Islamist militants. "When Ouyahia became prime minister he raised hope as a sign of a generation change but he ended up as the most unpopular prime minister," one diplomat said.
Trade unions blamed him for closing down 1,000 ailing state-owned companies, causing some 400,000 lay-offs.
Mr Ouyahia acknowledged the harsh social impact of his economic policy but he said it was the only way to push a state-dominated economy towards a free market after three decades of centralised policy.
Analysts said Mr Ouyahia's main political blunder was his repeated assertion that his government was close to wiping out Islamist rebels.
Algeria has been plagued by armed violence since early 1992 when the authorities cancelled a general election in which Islamists had taken a commanding lead. More than 65,000 people have been killed since then, according to western estimates.
Five Algerian vigilantes were killed in an ambush by an armed Islamic group, Le Matin reported yesterday. The body of a girl kidnapped in the massacre of 12 people at Sidi Rached on December 1st has been found with her throat cut. La Tribune reported that 24 Islamic fundamentalists had been killed by security forces since Wednesday.