The president of Algeria, transferred to Germany for health reasons

Abdelmayid Tebún, last January in Algiers.RYAD KRAMDI / AFP

The president of Algeria, Abdelmayid Tebún, 74, was transferred this Wednesday afternoon from Algiers to Germany to undergo "comprehensive medical examinations," according to the President's Cabinet without specifying further details.

The Algerian presidency has not said at any time that Tebún has tested positive for covid-19.

But on Saturday he decided to isolate himself "voluntarily" for five days after several ministers were infected by the virus, according to official sources.

This Tuesday, four days after the voluntary isolation, Tebún was admitted to the Ain Naadja Army hospital in Algiers.

The Prime Minister's Cabinet, Abdelaziz Djerad, issued a statement in which the cause of admission was not specified and was limited to pointing out that the president's condition was "stable" and did not generate "any concern."

The following day, when it was dark in Algiers, the presidency announced in another statement that Tebún had been transferred to Germany.

This Wednesday Tebún was scheduled to inaugurate the great mosque of Algiers, which was promoted by the previous president, Abdelaziz Buteflika (1999-2019), and will be the third largest in the world.

And next Sunday a referendum on the reform of the current Constitution is scheduled.

This reform was presented in his day by Abdelmayid Tebún as a response to the demands of the Hirak, that is, to the movement of massive protests that have traveled through Algeria from February 22, 2019 until the pandemic began to rage, last spring .

However, the reforms have not convinced the main Hirak activists, who see in this reform a simple facelift of the regime.

Tebún is a technocrat who became Prime Minister of Buteflika for three months in 2017. His attempt to curb the corruption of businessmen close to Buteflika was what caused his sudden dismissal.

And that was also what placed him in a privileged position in the eyes of the then Chief of Staff, Ahmed Gaid Salah, 79, who as a true strongman of the country cleared his path to the presidency.

Tebún was appointed president on December 12, 2019, and his protector, General Gaid Salah, died of cardiac arrest just two weeks later.

His post was held by General Said Chengriha, 74, the same age as Tebún.

In recent days, some media have talked about possible disagreements between Chengriha and Tebún.

But this type of information is always almost impossible to verify in Algeria.