The lower house of the Algerian parliament, the People's National Assembly, has elected a female speaker for the first time in its history on Tuesday evening, Le Figaro reports.

The fourth highest-ranking official in Algeria is now Khalida Boufedeche, an allergist and a member of parliament from the capital, Algiers. She is a member of the historic pro-government National Liberation Front (FLN) party, which was at the origins of the country's independence.

The FLN won the most seats in the last parliamentary elections, 91 out of 407. But voter turnout was 21.24 percent, the lowest in history.

Although a woman has become the new speaker of the People's National Assembly, the elections were generally marked by a low representation of women elected to parliament. They are only 25 or 6.14 percent.