President of Tunisia

The President of Tunisia, formally known as the President of the Republic of Tunisia (, ) is the head of state of Tunisia.The position was created in 1957 when Habib Bourguiba,who had been prime minister,overthrew the King.Thirty years later Bourguiba was overthrown by his own prime minister.Today the president is freely elected.

Tunisia is a semi-presidential republic, whereby the president is the head of state and the prime minister (named Head of Government of Tunisia) is head of government.

Under Article 77 of the Constitution of Tunisia, the president is also the commander-in-chief of the Tunisian Armed Forces.

In July 2022, in a referendum, voters approved a new constitution which would expand the powers given to the president, changing the republic from a semi-presidential system to a presidential system.Tunisia referendum: Voters give president near unchecked power

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PortraitNameStart of termEnd of termPolitical affiliationNotes1156x156pxHabib Bourguiba25 July 19577 November 1987Neo-DestourPrime Minister under Muhammad VIII al-Amin, Bey of Tunis, Bourguiba ousted the sovereign by proclaiming a republican regime on 25 July 1957, of which he was elected president. Elected overwhelmingly as President of the Tunisian Republic on 8 November 1959, and being the only candidate in this election, Bourguiba was elected president for life on 18 March 1975. He was dismissed on 7 November 1987 by his prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.SDP2156x156pxZine El Abidine Ben Ali7 November 198714 January 2011SDPPrime Minister and Minister of Interior of President Bourguiba, Ben Ali had the head of state dismissed, citing an age that was too high to continue presiding over the country. In December 2010, he faced a major wave of popular protests; he finally left the presidency on 14 January 2011, under pressure from demonstrators, and took refuge in Saudi Arabia, with his wife Leïla Ben Ali.DCR (-)158x158pxFouad Mebazaa15 January 201113 December 2011DCRAs President of the Chamber of Deputies, Mebazaa became interim president of the republic on 15 January 2011, after the departure of President Ben Ali to Saudi Arabia. He convenes the Constituent Assembly.Independent3168x168pxMoncef Marzouki13 December 201131 December 2014CFRThe first president of the republic to be inaugurated after the Tunisian revolution which led to the fall of President Ben Ali, Moncef Marzouki is also the first president not to come from the ranks of the ruling party since independence.4180x180pxBeji Caid Essebsi31 December 201425 July 2019 †Nidaa TounesBy winning the 2014 presidential elections in the second round against the outgoing president, Marzouki, Caïd Essebsi became the first president elected democratically by direct universal suffrage after the revolution. He dies in office on 25 July 2019.(-)152x152pxMohamed Ennaceur25 July 201923 October 2019Nidaa TounesHe acts as interim Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People for a maximum of 90 days.5164x164pxKais Saied23 October 2019presentIndependentBy winning the 2019 presidential election in the second round against Nabil Karoui, Saïed becomes the first independent elected President of the Republic. He is also the first president born after independence, as well as the first born under the mandate of one of his predecessors. On 25 July 2021, he suspended Parliament and dismissed the head of government Hichem Mechichi then published a decree on exceptional powers during the period preceding the adoption of a new Constitution.

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