President of Tunisia

President of the Republic of Tunisia
رئيس الجمهورية التونسية
Presidential seal
Presidential standard
Incumbent Kais Saied since 23 October 2019
Executive branch of the Government of the Republic of Tunisia Head of state of the Republic of Tunisia
Style	His Excellency
Type	Head of state Head of government (de facto)
Residence	Carthage Palace, Carthage
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Tunisia (2014)
Inaugural holder	Habib Bourguiba
Formation	25 July 1957; 67 years ago (1957-07-25)
Salary	US$90,380 annually[1]
Website	www.carthage.tn

Politics of Tunisia
Member State of the African Union Member State of the Arab League
Constitution Current constitution Constitution of 2022 Past constitution Constitution of 1959 Constitution of 2014
Executive President (List) Kais Saied Prime Minister (List) Kamel Madouri Cabinet
Legislature National Council of Regions and Districts Speaker Assembly of the Representatives of the People Speaker
Judiciary Court of Cassation
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2019 2024 Parliamentary: 2019 2022–23 Political parties
Administrative divisions Governorates Delegations Regional Councils
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Nabil Ammar Diplomatic missions of / in Tunisia Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
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The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Republic of Tunisia (

The first president of the Tunisian Republic when the position was created on 25 July 1957 was Habib Bourguiba,^[3] who remained in power for 30 years until he was removed through the coup of 7 November 1987,^[4] by his prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who appointed himself President of the Republic, and in turn remained in power for 23 years, until his fall in the Tunisian revolution on 14 January 2011.^[5] He then appointed Fouad Mebazaa as interim president, until he handed over power on 13 December 2011 to the politician Moncef Marzouki,^[6] the first democratic president in the country’s history, who was elected by the Constituent Assembly.^[7]

Marzouki handed over power on 31 December 2014 to his successor,

Tunisia's original republican constitution vested the president with sweeping executive and legislative powers. Indeed, within the context of the system, he was a virtual dictator. He was elected for a term of five years, with no term limits. In 1975, five months after winning his third full term, Bourguiba was named president for life. From 1987 to 2002, a president was limited to three five-year terms, with no more than two in a row. However, this provision was removed in June 2002. The 2014 Constitution retained the presidency as the key institution, but hedged it about with numerous checks and balances to prevent a repeat of past authoritarian excesses. Most notably, a president is limited to two five-year terms, even if they are non-successive. The Constitution explicitly forbids any amendment to increase the length of a president's term or allow him to run for more than two terms.

Under the current constitution, the president is primarily responsible for foreign policy, defense and national security, while the head of government (prime minister) is responsible for domestic policy.

The president is elected by universal suffrage by majority during elections held in the last sixty days of the previous presidential term. Article 74 of the Constitution establishes that the right to presidential candidacy is open to every Tunisian national of at least 35 years of age and of Muslim faith.^[14] Candidates must renounce any prior nationality upon election.^[14]

Voting takes place in the form of a

No.	Portrait	Name	Start of term	End of term	Political affiliation	Notes
1		Habib Bourguiba (1903–2000)	25 July 1957	7 November 1987	Neo-Destour	Prime 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.
					SDP
2		Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1936–2019)	7 November 1987	14 January 2011	SDP	Prime 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
(-)		Fouad Mebazaa (b. 1933)	15 January 2011	13 December 2011	DCR	As 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.
					Independent
3		Moncef Marzouki (b. 1945)	13 December 2011	31 December 2014	CFR	The 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.
4		Beji Caid Essebsi (1926–2019)	31 December 2014	25 July 2019 †	Nidaa Tounes	By 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.
(-)		Mohamed Ennaceur (b. 1934)	25 July 2019	23 October 2019	Nidaa Tounes	He acts as interim Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People for a maximum of 90 days.
5		Kais Saied (b. 1958)	23 October 2019	present	Independent	By 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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