 Medelci replaced Tayeb Belaiz, who had been appointed to the government as Minister of the Interior.Medelci was very unwell in January 2019, he was hospitalised in Paris before being brought back to Algiers in the last week of January.By 27 January, he was incapable of carrying out his role of president of the Constitutional Council just as it was preparing to oversee the 2019 Algerian presidential election.