List of presidents of Tunisia

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The president of Tunisia is the head of state of Tunisia, directly elected to a five-year term by the people. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the Tunisian government along with the prime minister and is the commander-in-chief of the Tunisian Armed Forces.

Contents

Since the office was established in 1957, Five men have served as president. The seventh and current president is Kais Saied since 23 October 2019. There are currently three living former presidents. The most recent former president to die was Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, on 19 September 2019.

The presidency of Mohamed Ennaceur, who assumed the office as acting president following the death of incumbent president Beji Caid Essebsi, was the shortest in Tunisian history (90 days). Habib Bourguiba, the inaugural holder, served the longest, over thirty years (1957–1987), before he was removed from office by his prime minister Ben Ali, on 7 November 1987. Since the ratification of the Tunisian Constitution in 2014, no person may be elected president more than twice.

Of those who have served as the nation's president, only one died in office of natural causes (Beji Caid Essebsi), two were removed from office (Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali) and two assumed the office as acting presidents (Fouad Mebazaa and Mohamed Ennaceur).

Background

Tunisia has had seven presidents since the proclamation of the republic on 25 July 1957:

Presidents

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term of officePartyElectionNotes
1 Portrait Habib Bourguiba.jpg Habib Bourguiba
(1903–2000)
25 July 1957

7 November 1987
Neo-Destour InterimParliament abolished the monarchy and designated Prime Minister Bourguiba as interim president.
1959 Bourguiba won the first presidential election in Tunisia's history.
SDP 1964 Bourguiba won his second presidential term.
1969 Bourguiba won his third and last presidential term according to the constitution.
1974 After this election, Bourguiba proclaimed himself president for life.
2 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.jpg Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
(1936–2019)
7 November 1987

14 January 2011
SDP InterimFollowing the 1987 coup d'état, Prime Minister Ben Ali took office as interim president.
DCR 1989 Ben Ali won the first presidential election in 15 years.
1994 Ben Ali won his second presidential term.
1999 Ben Ali won his third presidential term and Tunisia's first pluralist presidential election.
2004 Ben Ali won his fourth presidential term after being allowed according to the 2002 constitutional referendum.
2009 Ben Ali won his fifth and last presidential term before being deposed. [1]
3 Fouad Mebazaa 2011-11-22.jpg Fouad Mebazaa
(b. 1933)
15 January 2011

13 December 2011
DCR [a] InterimMebazaa, as speaker of Parliament, became interim president following the removal of Ben Ali by Constitutional Council.
Independent Mebazaa's term was extended until the election of a Constituent Assembly after the constitution was repealed.
4 Moncef Marzouki2.jpg Moncef Marzouki
(b. 1945)
13 December 2011

31 December 2014
CFR 2011 Marzouki was not elected directly, but was elected temporarily by the Constituent Assembly until the next election.
5 Beji Caid Essebsi 2015-05-20.jpg Beji Caid Essebsi
(1926–2019)
31 December 2014

25 July 2019 †
Nidaa Tounes 2014 Essebsi won the first two-round presidential election, and was the first president to die in office.
6 Mohamed Ennaceur.jpg Mohamed Ennaceur
(b. 1934)
25 July 2019

23 October 2019
Nidaa Tounes InterimEnnaceur, as speaker of Parliament, became interim president following the death of President Beji Caid Essebsi.
7 [b] Kais Saied 2023.jpg Kais Saied
(b. 1958)
23 October 2019

Incumbent
Independent 2019 Saied won the first presidential election in which a presidential debate was held.
2024 Saied won his second presidential term.
The first president to be reelected in 15 years.
  1. Mebazaa left the party leadership on January 18 and the DCR was dissolved on 9 March 2011.
  2. The official website of the president of Tunisia considers Saied to be the seventh to hold the office, as no distinctions are made between elected and interim presidents. [2]

Rank by time in office

Portrait Habib Bourguiba.jpg
Habib Bourguiba
Longest presidency:
30 years, 105 days
1957–1987
Mohamed Ennaceur.jpg
Mohamed Ennaceur
Shortest presidency:
90 days
2019
RankPresidentTime in office
1 Habib Bourguiba 30 years, 105 days
2 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 23 years, 68 days
3 Kais Saied 5 years, 120 days
4 Beji Caid Essebsi 4 years, 206 days
5 Moncef Marzouki 3 years, 18 days
6 Fouad Mebazaa
(Acting President)
332 days
7 Mohamed Ennaceur
(Acting President)
90 days

Timeline

Kais SaiedMohamed EnnaceurBeji Caid EssebsiMoncef MarzoukiFouad MebazaaZine El Abidine Ben AliHabib BourguibaList of presidents of Tunisia

See also

References

  1. "Ben Ali sworn in, announces historical measures". Business News. 13 November 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  2. "President of the republic Kais Saied". Carthage.tn. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.