Instead of Krim, Ben Youssef Ben Khedda, the forty-one-year-old former secretary-general of Messali's M.T.L.D. who had come over to the F.L.N. after being jailed by the French in November 1954, received the nomination. An ex-pharmacist like his predecessor, Abbas, Ben Khedda had been Minister for Social Affairs in the first G.P.R.A. of September 1958, had gone on the first expedition to China, but had been dropped in January 1960. After this he had travelled on various F.L.N. delegations to the Third World, had written a series of thoughtful articles for El Moudjahid, but had never done anything to give the impression that here might be a new focus of power. With cold eyes constantly protected by dark glasses, Ben Khedda was a reserved, quiet-spoken and rather austere personality. A doctrinaire with Marxist leanings, he had none of the popular appeal of an Abbas, a Krim or a Ben Bella. Physically he was far from strong, suffering from chronic amoebic dysentery, but was respected for his firmness of character. Together with Ramdane Abane and Saad Dahlab he had drafted the famous Soummam Platform of 1956, but he had never committed himself to any of the warring factions within the F.L.N., and was not now in conflict with Boumedienne and the General Staff. For these reasons particularly there was merit in his selection for the presidency. He was also regarded as a hard-liner, certainly when compared with the outgoing friend of moderation and compromise, Ferhat Abbas.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1449