President of Tunisia
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The President of the Republic of Tunisia has been the head of state of Tunisia since the establishment of the Republic on 25 July 1957. He is the head of the executive branch and governs the country together with the Prime Minister, who is formally the head of government. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the Tunisian armed forces. Until the 2010/2011 revolution in Tunisia and the flight of President Ben Ali, Tunisian presidents ruled largely autocratically and effectively without separation of powers, presiding not only over executive power but also steering the legislative process and presiding over the judiciary. The day after Ben Ali fled, the previous president of the Chamber of Deputies became interim president, replaced, also on an interim basis, by Moncef Marzouki after the 2011 election to Tunisia's Constituent Assembly. Both had limited powers; political power rested with the Constituent Assembly, which adopted a new constitution on 26 January 2014, redefining the position of the president as the holder of executive power, with a strong parliament as a counterpart (semi-presidential system of government). This President was democratically elected for the first time in an election by the citizens on 23 November and 21 December 2014. In the run-off election on 21 December, Beji Caid Essebsi prevailed over the incumbent Moncef Marzouki and was the first President of Tunisia directly elected by the people in a free election from 31 December 2014 until his death.
Since its inception, this office has been held by five people. The first incumbent was Habib Bourguiba, who held the office until the bloodless coup d'état of 7 November 1987. Since then it has been held by Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. After his flight from the country on 14 January 2011, the office was held provisionally by Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi. On 15 January 2011, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Fouad Mebazaa, took over the office in an acting capacity. All four were members of the Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique or its predecessor organizations Neo-Destour and Parti Socialiste Destourien. On 23 November 2011, CPR leader Moncef Marzouki was elected interim president of the country by the Constituent Assembly.
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The nationalist Destur Party, founded in 1920, called early on for the drafting of a constitution, which, however, was not to touch the then existing monarchy. Even after the founding of the successor party Néo-Destour in 1934 under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba, this attitude did not change.
The Party Congress in November 1955 called for elections to be held as soon as possible for a constituent assembly and for a new form of government to be established on the basis of a constitutional monarchy that respected the sovereignty of the people and the separation of powers.
However, the Husainid dynasty that ruled Tunisia at the time was largely of Turkish origin. They did not identify with the country; Tunisians regarded them as rulers who collected high taxes and used foreign armies to put down revolts.
On 29 December 1955, Lamine Bey signed the decree calling for the election of the Constituent Assembly. Habib Bourguiba formed the country's first government as prime minister. The privileges of the Husainids were subsequently abolished, and the economic management of the royal family was subordinated to the Ministry of Finance. In the Néo-Destour party, the view that the Beys at the head of the state represented a break in national unity became more and more prevalent.
The proclamation of the republic was thus decided and was originally to take place on 1 June 1957, the second anniversary of Bourguiba's return to Tunisia. However, this was initially thwarted by a crisis surrounding the cessation of French economic aid. An extraordinary session of the Constituent Assembly was eventually called for 25 July in the Throne Room of the Bardo Palace. The monarchy was abolished by unanimous vote and a republican form of government established; power was assumed by Néo-Destour alone. The Bey's properties were confiscated and used to pay off national debts. Bourguiba was entrusted with the function of president until the adoption of a new constitution.
Position of the President before the Revolution
The president was elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term under the constitution in force until 2011. He was eligible for re-election without limit after the 2002 constitutional amendment. Prior to that, a person could only hold office for four, and later three, terms, but between 1975 and 1988 the presidency was for life. International media, human rights organizations, the French Human Rights Advisory Council, and the U.S. government agreed that the presidential election could not be classified as free because the ruling Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique party exercised extensive control over the media and opposition groups were repressed.
Presidential elections
Requirements for candidacy
Article 40 of the constitution in force until 2011 allowed any citizen of Tunisia who professed Islam, and who himself or herself, whose parents and grandparents were Tunisian citizens without interruption, to run for the presidency. The candidate had to be between 40 and 75 years of age (70 between 1988 and 2002), the cut-off date being that day on which he filed his candidacy. He had to have all civil and political rights.
In addition, he had to deposit 5000 dinars as a deposit, which he only got back after the elections if he could gather at least 3 percent of the votes. In order to file his candidacy, the candidate had to submit a birth certificate, which could not be older than one year, and the citizenship certificates of himself, his parents and grandparents; these documents had to be issued by the Ministry of Justice.
The deadline for candidacy was the second month before the presidential election. The candidacy had to be supported by at least thirty members of the Tunisian parliament or presidents of local councils, although each person entitled to support could only give their backing to one potential candidate. This provision had been introduced in 1976 after Chedly Zouiten announced his candidacy against Bourguiba in the 1974 elections. The candidacy was subsequently taken up by the Constitutional Council; the body had been in existence since 1987 and consisted of nine members, four of whom were appointed by the President of the Republic himself and two by the President of the Chamber of Deputies. Only the President himself was allowed to appeal to the Constitutional Council; the decisions of this body were judgments bearing the President's seal. The Constitutional Council decided by simple majority behind closed doors on the validity of the candidacy.
Before the constitutional reform of 2002, the decision on validity had rested with a body composed of the President of Parliament, the Mufti of Tunisia, the first President of the Administrative Court, the first President of the Court of Appeal of Tunis and the Attorney General of the Republic. Once the deadline for candidacy had passed, it was not possible to withdraw a candidacy once it had been submitted. The Constitutional Council also announced the results of the elections and answered petitions that could be submitted in accordance with the Electoral Code.
Until the 2011 revolution, only the ruling Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique party of then-President Ben Ali had the necessary number of MPs to provide statements of support for the presidential candidate. None of the opposition groups had this option. Nevertheless, in order to make formal pluralistic elections possible, a constitutional law was passed on June 30, 1999, which exceptionally amended Article 40 for the 1999 elections. Candidates who had been the leader of a political party that had been in existence for at least five years and held at least one parliamentary seat on election day were also allowed to stand. Ahmed Néjib Chebbi of the Parti Démocratique Progressiste and Mohamed Harmel of the Mouvement Ettajdid were thus excluded from the election. In 2003, another exceptional constitutional law was passed that allowed the five opposition parties represented in parliament to nominate a candidate of their choice for the 2004 election. The candidate was now no longer required to be the party leader, but was required to have been a member of his party for at least five years on the day he filed his candidacy.
For the 2009 elections, the constitution was again amended. Now, party leaders who had been leaders of their party for at least two years were also entitled to run for office. This again excluded Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, who had previously called for the need to collect statements of support to be abolished.
Course of the election campaign and voting
According to the constitution in force until 2011, the election had to be held within the last 30 days of the expiring presidential term. If no candidate received an absolute majority in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the largest share of the votes cast competed in a run-off election, which had to be held two weeks later. If it was impossible to organize an election in the required time frames, either because of war or acute threat, the mandate of the incumbent president was extended by the Chambre des députés until it was possible to hold an election. The election campaign begins two weeks before the election date and ends 24 hours before.
During the election campaign, each of the candidates was allowed equal space for advertising posters. Candidates were also allowed to use the state radio for their election campaign, with requests for airtime to be submitted to the authorities responsible for the control of public broadcasters within five days of the announcement of the list of candidates by the Constitutional Council. The date and time of the commercials were randomly determined by the control authorities, with each candidate entitled to equal airtime within the two weeks preceding the election. On 7 November 2008, President Ben Ali announced that the Supreme Broadcasting Council would review candidates' broadcasts to ensure that no applicable laws were violated and would prevent broadcasting if necessary. A candidate could have taken legal action against this.
Each candidate was granted subsidies by decree. The amount of this campaign financing depended on the votes obtained in the elections. Half of the subsidy was paid out after the Constitutional Council had confirmed the candidacy. The second half was paid out if the candidate obtained at least 3% of the votes cast nationwide. Each candidate had the right to be represented by a delegate at each polling station to supervise the election process.
Previous ballots
The first presidential and parliamentary elections were held on 8 November 1959. Subsequent elections were traditionally held on Sundays.
Bourguiba, who benefited from his aura as leader of the independence movement, was the only candidate in all elections until 1974. He was able to garner 91 to 99.85 percent of the vote in each case. On September 10, 1974, for the first time, a second candidate for president announced his candidacy: Chedly Zouiten, president of the Jeune chambre économique de Tunisie announced his decision in a press release. However, it was immediately condemned by the members of his association and the electoral commission did not take his candidacy into account. Bourguiba later had himself appointed president for life.
In 1987 Ben Ali took power in a bloodless coup d'état and had himself confirmed in the following presidential elections without ever allowing an opposing candidate with a chance. It was not until 1994 that a second attempt was made to field an opposing candidate to the incumbent president. However, Moncef Marzouki, former head of the Tunisian Human Rights League, was unable to gather the necessary number of statements of support. He was later arrested and not allowed to obtain a passport. Subsequently, constitutional laws were passed temporarily suspending Article 40 of the constitution to allow opposing candidates to file their bids for office with the Supreme Court in the 1999, 2004 and 2009 elections.
After the resignation of the previous president Ben Ali on 14 January 2011, there were supposed to be new elections for the office of head of state by April 2011, which did not take place in this way, as a new constitution was to be drawn up first that would allow for a pluralistic democracy.
| Ballot | Candidate | Result | Party affiliation |
| November 8, 1959 | Habib Bourguiba | 91 % | Néo-Destour |
| November 8, 1964 | Habib Bourguiba | 96 % | Parti Socialiste Destourien (PSD) |
| November 2, 1969 | Habib Bourguiba | 99,76 % | PSD |
| November 3, 1974 | Habib Bourguiba | 99,85 % | PSD |
| April 2, 1989 | Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali | 99,27 % | Constitutional Democratic Collection (RCD) |
| 20 March 1994 | Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali | 99,91 % | RCD |
| 24 October 1999 | Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali | 99,45 % | RCD |
| Mohamed Belhaj Amor | 0,31 % | Parti de l'Unité Populaire (PUP) | |
| Abderrahmane Tlili | 0,23 % | Union Démocratique Unioniste (UDU) | |
| 24 October 2004 | Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali | 94,49 % | RCD |
| Mohamed Bouchiha | 3,78 % | PUP | |
| Mohamed Ali Halouani | 0,95 % | Ettajdid Movement | |
| Mounir Béji | 0,79 % | Parti Social-Libéral (PSL) | |
| October 25, 2009 | Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali | 89,62 % | RCD |
| Mohamed Bouchiha | 5,01 % | PUP | |
| Ahmed Inoubli | 3,80 % | UDU | |
| Ahmed Brahim | 1,57 % | Ettajdid Movement | |
Criticism of the legislation
Criticism of the electoral laws in force until 2011 was voiced by both the Tunisian opposition and the international press. The incumbent generally had a strong voter base, had the support of the administration, and was therefore able to command greater human and financial resources than his competitors. The opposition consisted of parties that faced frequent internal crises and had difficulty establishing a credible program. The restrictive and frequently changing conditions for candidacy prevented a leader from emerging in the opposition. Thus, the first rudimentary pluralist presidential election in Tunisia's history did not take place until 1999. At the time, the foreign press criticized the fact that the two opposing candidates, Mohamed Belhaj Amor and Abderrahmane Tlili, had expressed their support for the policies of President Ben Ali.
The reforms carried out in the past have thus not reduced the incumbent's influence on the presidential elections. Elections have never posed a challenge to the power elite in Tunisia's history.
Since those in power had a de facto monopoly over the media, the election campaigns were very unbalanced. The candidates had equal airtime for their commercials, but otherwise the state media were dominated by extensive coverage of the government's policies and the president's activities.
Candidates were strictly prohibited from campaigning in the private or foreign mass media. Violation of this prohibition would have resulted in a fine of 25,000 dinars. Political televised debates were unheard of in Tunisia, and when the elections were covered on Tunisian television, the coverage consisted mainly of an invitation to vote.
Furthermore, the size of the constituencies as well as the number of polling stations posed a hurdle for challengers in the election. As a rule, only the incumbent had the means to run a real election campaign; at the same time, the high number of polling stations made it almost impossible to effectively control the ballot.
Tenure
List of Presidents of the Republic of Tunisia
The following persons have held the office of President to date:
| # | Image | Name | Incoming | Leaving office | Party |
| 1 |
| Habib Bourguiba | July 25, 1957 | 22 October 1964 | Neo-Destur |
| 22 October 1964 | November 7, 1987 | PSD | |||
| 2 |
| Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali | November 7, 1987 | February 27, 1988 | PSD |
| February 27, 1988 | 14 January 2011 | RCD | |||
| - – |
| Mohamed Ghannouchi | 14 January 2011 | 15 January 2011 | RCD |
| 3 |
| Fouad Mebazaa | 15 January 2011 | 18 January 2011 | RCD |
| 18 January 2011 | 12 December 2011 | Unaffiliated | |||
| 4 |
| Moncef Marzouki | 12 December 2011 | 31 December 2014 | CPR |
| 5 |
| Beji Caid Essebsi | 31 December 2014 | July 25, 2019 | Independent (until Nidaa Tounes took office) |
| 6 |
| Mohamed Ennaceur | July 25, 2019 | October 23, 2019 | Nidaa Tounes |
| 7 |
| Kais Saied | October 23, 2019 | acting | nonpartisan |
Swearing in
Until 2011, the swearing-in of the President took place before Parliament, whose two chambers met in joint session for the occasion. Here, the oath that the President had to take was as follows: I swear by God Almighty to uphold the independence of the Fatherland and the inviolability of its territory, to respect the Constitution and its legislation, and to conscientiously pursue the interests of the nation.
Term limits
The President was elected for a term of five years by universal, free, direct and secret suffrage by an absolute majority of the votes cast, according to the Constitution in force until 2011. The incumbent president could be re-elected, although the number of re-elections was unlimited in the last version of the constitution in force.
Under Article 40 of the Constitution, adopted in 1959, the president could be re-elected only three times, limiting the number of terms to four consecutive terms.
The first incumbent, Habib Bourguiba, had already been elected four times in 1974. In September 1974, the ninth congress of the Parti Socialiste Destourien approved Bourguiba's application for the presidency for life. On 18 March 1975, Parliament passed Constitutional Law No. 75-13, which amended paragraph 2 of Article 40, exceptionally and in consideration of the outstanding merits of Habib Bourguiba, the supreme fighter who liberated the Tunisian people from the yoke of colonialism and founded a modern, sovereign nation. Article 51 (which later became Article 57) was also amended so that the Prime Minister assumed the functions of the President in his absence.
In 1976, Prime Minister Hédi Nouira had Article 39, paragraph 3, which had not been abolished by the 1975 law but merely suspended, amended so that the mandate was unlimited.
After seizing power in 1987, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali promised to restore the republican idea and faith in its institutions. The law of 25 July 1988 amended articles 57 and 40 to limit the number of terms to three, instead of four. After Ben Ali, like Bourguiba before him, had exhausted the maximum number of possible terms, the constitutional amendment of 26 May 2002 reintroduced the unlimited mandate, as had been done previously by Hédi Nouira. At the same time, the maximum age of the candidate was raised to 75. This step was criticized as surrendering the constitution to the accidents of biology, as draining the republic, or as a veiled coup d'état.
Succession planning
In the event that the office of President became vacant, Section 51 of the Constitution was originally worded to provide that the Government would select one of its members to temporarily assume the function of President. It was required to notify the Speaker of Parliament of the choice without delay. A new president was to be chosen within five weeks for the remainder of the term. President Bourguiba opposed this formulation because it would not have allowed him to choose his own successor. The problem of a successor became particularly eminent after the president suffered a heart attack on March 14, 1967. Finally, on November 29, 1969, a constitutional law was passed that amended Article 51 to provide that the prime minister should automatically assume the office of president if the president was incapacitated. In June 1970, Bourguiba instructed a commission of his Parti Socialiste Destourien to work out several scenarios for automatic succession to the office of head of state. From the options of automatic succession by the prime minister, by the speaker of parliament, or by a vice president to be elected, they stuck with the first solution. The constitution now provided that the office could become vacant through the death or resignation of the president, but also through unconditional incapacity. However, there was no definition of which body was allowed to determine the unconditional prevention. In 1987, the then Prime Minister Ben Ali took advantage of this loophole by declaring the president incapacitated, relying on a college of doctors who had been specially selected for this purpose.
Since Ben Ali took power, the president has been able to transfer his powers to the prime minister by decree in the event of temporary incapacity, with the exception of the right to dissolve parliament. The government could not then be overthrown by a vote of no confidence until the end of the period of incapacity. In the case of permanent incapacity, whether due to death, resignation or unconditional incapacity, it was first the duty of the Constitutional Council to meet immediately and confirm the unconditional incapacity by a simple majority. Thereafter, the chairman of the Chambre des députés was charged with the function of President of the Republic for a period of 45 to 60 days. If the Chambre des députés was dissolved, the office moved to the chairman of the Chambre des conseillers. The interim president was sworn in in the same manner as an elected president, but was not allowed to run in the following presidential election, even if he submitted his resignation beforehand. The interim president did not have the authority to call referenda, dissolve the Chambre des députés, take special measures under Article 46 of the Constitution, or dismiss the government. During the term of an interim president, the constitution could not be amended and no vote of no confidence in the government could be launched. After the fall of the previous ruler, Ben Ali, in January 2011, this provision was applied: the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Fouad Mebazaa, temporarily took over the vacant office until an interim president was appointed by the Constituent Assembly in December 2011.
Functions and powers
The constitutional amendments of 1988 and 1997 expanded the power of the president at the expense of that of the prime minister, such as the power of disposal over the administration and security forces, as well as the legislature. From then on, the president had the most far-reaching powers, while the legislature was limited to the rights granted to it by Article 35 of the Constitution.
From 2002 onwards, it was also no longer necessary for the legislature to ratify agreements favouring the president, except in certain cases enumerated in Article 32. The constitutional amendments also weakened the lower house Chambre des députés vis-à-vis the upper house Chambre des conseillers, the latter being only indirectly elected and one third of its deputies being appointed by the president. Consequently, almost all legislative initiatives emanated from the president, i.e. the executive power, who was thus the actual legislator of the country.
Executive powers
Article 38 of the constitution in force until 2011 gave the president executive powers and the role of head of state. Article 37 provided him with a government led by the prime minister. Article 50 gave him the right to appoint and dismiss the prime minister. He appointed members of the Government on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The President had the right to dissolve the Government or dismiss any of its members on his own initiative or on the proposal of the Prime Minister, without any say from Parliament.
Article 49 gives him the right to define the basic lines of the policy of the state and its foundations, about this he had to inform the House of Representatives. He presided over the Council of Ministers and, in accordance with Article 44, assumed the role of commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President could dissolve the Chambre des députés in the event of two votes of no confidence during the same legislative term. If he took over the vacant presidency as newly elected president, he also had the right to dissolve the Chambre des députés (Article 63).
According to Article 41 of the Constitution, the President was the guarantor of independence, the inviolability of the territory and respect for the Constitution and the laws. Under Article 48, he concluded treaties on behalf of the Republic and ensured their implementation. He declared war and made peace, in each case after obtaining the authorization of Parliament. He supervised the proper functioning of the constitutional bodies and ensured the continuity of the State.
Article 46 gave him the right to authorize special powers in the event of imminent danger to the institutions of the Republic, to the security and independence of the country, or in the event of interference with the proper functioning of the organs of state. The same article gave him the right, after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, to take special measures until the circumstances which had made the measure necessary were banished. During the validity of the special powers, however, he was not permitted to dissolve the Chambre des députés, and at the same time no motions of censure could be brought against the Government.
Art. 53 gave the president the role of watchdog over the application of the law and a general right to issue directives, part of which, however, he could cede to the prime minister. Finally, he had the right to pardon convicts.
Legislative powers
The Tunisian constitution created a presidential form of government that concentrated power with the executive. The president shared the right of initiative with parliament. According to Article 26 of the constitution, the president's legislative projects took precedence over those of parliament; in addition, the president could intervene in legislation with legislative decrees.
Laws were promulgated by the President. His office took over the timely promulgation in the Journal officiel de la République tunisienne, which had to be done within two weeks of receiving the text of the law from the Speaker of one of the two Houses of Parliament. However, the President had the right to send bills back to Parliament for a second reading, in whole or in part, within that period. If it was then passed by a two-thirds majority, it had to be promulgated and published within two weeks. Further, the President could appeal to the Constitutional Council and, based on the judgment of the same, send laws or parts thereof back to Parliament for a re-vote. The amended laws, passed by the majorities required by Article 28, again had to be promulgated and published within the aforementioned period.
Judicial powers
The President appointed the judges and, in accordance with Article 66 of the Constitution, was the Chairman of the Supreme Judiciary. This circumstance established the dependence of the judiciary on the executive and the prosecution. The judges were terminable and could thus be replaced by the President.
The President was at the same time the only one who was allowed to appeal to the Constitutional Council.
On 14 July 2001, Prosecutor Mokhtar Yahyaoui, relative of Zouhair Yahyaoui, founder of the website Tunezine, wrote an open letter to President Ben Ali lamenting the lack of independence of the judiciary and calling on the President to end the control exercised by the executive. He lamented his disappointment at the poor state of Tunisia's judicial system, in which the judicial authorities and judges were prevented from exercising their constitutional powers. Although this open letter received much attention abroad, it meant Yahyaoui's removal from office and the loss of his income. He was definitively removed from office on 29 December of the same year by a disciplinary committee which accused him of misconduct in the discharge of his professional duties.
Nomination right
Article 55 of the Constitution gave the President the right to appoint senior civil and military officials in addition to the Prime Minister and members of the Government. He did so on the recommendation of the government and could delegate this function to the prime minister for certain positions. The President accredited diplomatic representatives abroad and foreign diplomatic representatives in Tunisia in accordance with article 45.
Right of initiative
Article 47, introduced by the 1997 amendment to the Constitution, gave the President the right to submit a bill directly to the people for a vote without the approval of Parliament if it was of national importance or concerned higher interests of the State. The only restriction was that the bill had to be in accordance with the Constitution, but it did not need the approval of the Constitutional Council. If the referendum approved the bill, the President had to promulgate it as law within 15 days of the publication of the result of the vote.
The President was also allowed to submit constitutional amendments approved by Parliament to a popular vote (Article 76).
Office of the President
The Office of the President assisted the Head of State in the performance of his duties. It consisted of the following departments:
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The following institutions were directly attached to the President of Tunisia:
- the administrative mediator
- the Supreme Committee of Human and Fundamental Rights (Comité supérieur des droits de l'homme et des libertés fondamentales)
- the Institute for Strategic Studies (Institut tunisien des études stratégiques)
- the Supreme Committee for Administrative and Financial Control (Haut comité du contrôle administratif et financier)
- the National Solidarity Fund
Bourguiba usually left the presidency of the Council of Ministers to the prime minister. He also refused to hire presidential advisers, preferring instead to work with the ministers. His successor Ben Ali, on the other hand, held frequent small-scale councils of ministers and relied on his numerous consultative bodies.
Immunity
The Tunisian head of state was freed from any responsibility by the 1997 constitutional amendment. He could resolve conflicts with the government or parliament by dismissing the government or dissolving parliament (Article 63). As of 2002, the president was also protected against any criminal prosecution. This applied even after the end of his term of office for all activities related to his office.
The rule did not absolutely exclude the possibility of the President being handed over to the judiciary. It was up to the judge to decide whether his actions were private or public in nature and whether they were related to his functions as president. The Supreme Court was only allowed to judge members of the Government in cases of high treason (article 68 of the Constitution), but not the President, despite discussions in the founding assembly of the Republic in 1956-1959. The issue of abuse of office for personal gain was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but the Constitution contained no provision regarding the possible abuse of power by the President or the Government.
As of September 2005, there was a law on the provision of presidents after the resignation of their functions and their families in the event of death. Retired presidents received an annuity equivalent to their income as president, including residence, staff and health care. After the president's death, his wife and children were also entitled to this benefit until the age of 25.
Bourguiba on a visit to Mahdia, 11 August 1967
Hédi Nouira, Prime Minister under Habib Bourguiba
