Bu Ma'za is elected Umma Council speaker

The 144 members of the Algerian Umma Council elected Bashir Bu Ma'za as speaker of the Council. 144 votes came from the 80 members of the National Democratic Tagamoua (NDT), and the 48 members appointed by the Algerian President Zeroual in addition to the 10 members of the National Liberation Front (NLF).

The former member of the Tagamoua (Gathering) for Culture and Democracy (TCD) Mohamed Al Araby was the only opponent competing with Bu Ma'za but he only got his own vote.

Ma'za refused to read a speech prepared for him to read on this occasion, he improvised and thanked his supporters as well as his opponents. He also declared that he froze his membership in the NLF and his chairmanship of the May 8 1994 Organization.

Bu Ma'za highlighted the fact that there will be no competition between the Umma Council and the First Chamber in the parliament.