View source for List of presidents of Tunisia

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Politics of Tunisia}}

The [[president of Tunisia]] is the [[head of state]] of [[Tunisia]], [[Direct election|directly elected]] to a five-year [[Term of office|term]] by the people. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the Tunisian government along with the [[Prime Minister of the Republic of Tunisia|prime minister]] and is the [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Tunisian Armed Forces]].

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 of 2014|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:
* '''[[Habib Bourguiba]]''' was appointed president by the parliament on 25 July 1957, until the election of a permanent president. After the Constitution was enacted on 1 June 1959, a [[1959 Tunisian general election|presidential election]] was held on 8 November 1959. Being the only one running for office, he gained 91% of the votes to serve a five-year term. He was elected unopposed three more times. Shortly after winning his fourth full term, he was proclaimed [[president for life]]. He remained in office until being deposed in the [[1987 Tunisian coup d'état|coup d'état]] of 7 November 1987, organized by his prime minister, Ben Ali.
* '''[[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]]''' was prime minister and interior minister under Bourguiba. Ben Ali had Bourguiba declared medically unfit to serve 7 November 1987. Per the constitution, he became acting president pending new elections. Ben Ali was elected unopposed for a full five-year term on 2 April 1989, and was reelected three more times (the first time unopposed). On 14 January 2011, his regime fell in the [[Tunisian Revolution]] that started on 17 December 2010. [[Mohamed Ghannouchi]], his prime minister, claimed the presidency, serving as acting president.
* '''[[Fouad Mebazaa]]''' was designated by the Constitutional Council to serve as acting president on 15 January 2011. Under Article 57 of the constitution, an election should have taken place between 45 and 60 days following Mebazaa's appointment. But on 3 March 2011, he announced the repeal of the 1959 constitution and the election of a constituent assembly which had to draft a new one. Therefore, he remained acting president pending new elections.
* '''[[Moncef Marzouki]]''' was elected president by the [[Tunisian Constituent Assembly]] on 12 December 2011. The next day, he was inaugurated, making him the first president not to be member of the ruling party. During the [[2014 Tunisian presidential election|2014 presidential election]], he was defeated by former prime minister Caid Essebsi and left office on 31 December 2014.
* '''[[Beji Caid Essebsi]]''' became the first president to be elected by [[universal suffrage]] after the revolution, on 21 December 2014. On 31 December 2014, he took office as the fifth president of Tunisia, and the first to be freely elected. He died on 25 July 2019, and was succeeded by [[Mohamed Ennaceur]] as acting president.
* '''[[Mohamed Ennaceur]]''' became acting president in accordance with Articles 84 and 85 of the constitution on 25 July 2019, following the death in office of President Essebsi. Per the constitution, Ennaceur was to serve as acting president for no more than 90 days, during which an early presidential election was to be held. An [[2019 Tunisian presidential election|election]] had already been scheduled for November 2019, but was brought forward to September to ensure that a new president would be sworn in before the 90-day limit.
* '''[[Kais Saied]]''' was elected in September 2019. He took office on 23 October as the second president (Marzouki being the first) who was not an heir to Bourguiba's legacy.

==Presidents==
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! {{abbr|No.|Number}}
! Portrait
! Name<br />{{small|(Birth–Death)}} 
! Term of office
! colspan="2" | Party
! Election
! Notes 
|-
! rowspan="5" | {{color|#000|1}}
| rowspan="5" | [[File:Bourguiba portrait (cropped).JPG|120px]]
| rowspan="5" | '''[[Habib Bourguiba]]'''<br />{{small|(1903–2000)}}
| rowspan="5" | <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">25 July 1957</span><br/>–<br/><span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">[[1987 Tunisian coup d'état|7 November 1987]]</span>
| rowspan="5" style="background: {{party color|Democratic Constitutional Rally}};" |
| rowspan="2" | [[Neo-Destour]]
| Interim
| {{small|Parliament [[Kingdom of Tunisia#Declaration of the republic|abolished the monarchy]] and designated Prime Minister Bourguiba as interim president.}}
|-
| [[1959 Tunisian general election|1959]]
| {{small|Bourguiba won the first presidential election in Tunisia's history.}}
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Socialist Destourian Party|SDP]]
| [[1964 Tunisian general election|1964]]
| {{small|Bourguiba won his second presidential term.}}
|-
| [[1969 Tunisian general election|1969]]
| {{small|Bourguiba won his third and last presidential term according to the constitution.}}
|-
| [[1974 Tunisian general election|1974]]
| {{small|After this election, Bourguiba proclaimed himself [[president for life]].}}
|-
! rowspan="6" | {{color|#000|2}}
| rowspan="6" | [[File:Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (cropped).jpg|120px]]
| rowspan="6" | '''[[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]]'''<br />{{small|(1936–2019)}}
| rowspan="6" | <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">7 November 1987</span><br/>–<br/><span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">[[Tunisian Revolution|14 January 2011]]</span>
| rowspan="6" style="background: {{party color|Democratic Constitutional Rally}};" |
| [[Socialist Destourian Party|SDP]]
| Interim
| {{small|Following the [[1987 Tunisian coup d'état|1987 coup d'état]], Prime Minister Ben Ali took office as interim president.}}
|-
| rowspan="5" | [[Democratic Constitutional Rally|DCR]]
| [[1989 Tunisian general election|1989]]
| {{small|Ben Ali won the first presidential election in 15 years.}}
|-
| [[1994 Tunisian general election|1994]]
| {{small|Ben Ali won his second presidential term.}}
|-
| [[1999 Tunisian general election|1999]]
| {{small|Ben Ali won his third presidential term and Tunisia's first pluralist presidential election.}}
|-
| [[2004 Tunisian general election|2004]]
| {{small|Ben Ali won his fourth presidential term after being allowed according to the [[2002 Tunisian constitutional referendum|2002 constitutional referendum]].}}
|-
| [[2009 Tunisian general election|2009]]
| {{small|Ben Ali won his fifth and last presidential term before being deposed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessnews.com.tn/tunisie--ben-ali-prate-serment-et-annonce-des-mesures-historiques,519,19322,1 |website=Business News |title=Ben Ali sworn in, announces historical measures |date=13 November 2009 |access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref>}}
|-style="background:#e6e6aa;"
! rowspan="2" | {{color|#000|—}}
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Fouad Mebazaa.jpg|120px]]
| rowspan="2" | '''[[Fouad Mebazaa]]'''<br />{{small|(1933–2025)}}
| rowspan="2" | <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">15 January 2011</span><br/>–<br/><span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">13 December 2011</span>
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Constitutional Rally}};" |
| [[Democratic Constitutional Rally|DCR]]{{efn|Mebazaa left the party leadership on January 18 and the DCR was dissolved on 9 March 2011.}}
| rowspan="2" | Interim
| {{small|Mebazaa, as [[speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People|speaker of Parliament]], became interim president following the removal of Ben Ali by the [[:fr:Conseil constitutionnel (Tunisie)|Constitutional Council]].}}
|-style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| style="background: {{party color|Independent politician}};" |
| [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| {{small|Mebazaa's term was extended until the election of a [[Constituent Assembly of Tunisia|Constituent Assembly]] after the constitution was repealed.}}
|-
! {{color|#000|3}}
| [[File:Moncef Marzouki2.jpg|120px]]
| '''[[Moncef Marzouki]]'''<br />{{small|({{abbr|b.|born}} 1945)}}
| <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">13 December 2011</span><br/>–<br/><span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">31 December 2014</span>
| style="background: {{party color|Congress for the Republic}};" |
| [[Congress for the Republic|CFR]]
| [[Constituent Assembly of Tunisia#Provisional constitution and presidential election|2011]]
| {{small|Marzouki was not elected directly, but was elected temporarily by the [[Constituent Assembly of Tunisia|Constituent Assembly]] until the next election.}}
|-
! {{color|#000|4}}
| [[File:Beji Caid el Sebsi at the 37th G8 Summit in Deauville 006.jpg|120px]]
| '''[[Beji Caid Essebsi]]'''<br />{{small|(1926–2019)}}
| <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">31 December 2014</span><br/>–<br/>[[Beji Caid Essebsi#Illness and death|25 July 2019 †]]
| style="background: {{party color|Nidaa Tounes}};" |
| [[Nidaa Tounes]]
| [[2014 Tunisian presidential election|2014]]
| {{small|Essebsi won the first [[Two-round system|two-round presidential election]], and was the first president to die in office.}}
|-style="background:#e6e6aa;"
! {{color|#000|—}}
| [[File:Mohamed Ennaceur.jpg|120px]]
| '''[[Mohamed Ennaceur]]'''<br />{{small|({{abbr|b.|born}} 1934)}}
| <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">25 July 2019</span><br/>–<br/>23 October 2019
| style="background: {{party color|Nidaa Tounes}};" |
| [[Nidaa Tounes]]
| Interim
| {{small|Ennaceur, as [[speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People|speaker of Parliament]], became interim president following the death of President [[Beji Caid Essebsi]].}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | {{color|#000|5}}{{efn|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=President of the republic Kais Saied |url=https://www.carthage.tn/?q=ar/%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9 |website=Carthage.tn |access-date=29 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125225352/https://www.carthage.tn/?q=ar/%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Kais Saied 2023.jpg|120px]]
| rowspan="2" | '''[[Kais Saied]]'''<br />{{small|({{abbr|b.|born}} 1958)}}
| rowspan="2" | <span class="date" style="white-space: nowrap;">23 October 2019</span><br/>–<br/>''Incumbent''
| rowspan="2" style="background: {{party color|Independent politician}};" |
| rowspan="2" | [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| [[2019 Tunisian presidential election|2019]]
| {{small|Saied won the first presidential election in which a [[Leaders' debate|presidential debate]] was held.}}
|-
| [[2024 Tunisian presidential election|2024]]
| {{small|Saied won his second presidential term.<br>The first president to be reelected in 15 years.}}
|}
{{notelist}}

==Rank by time in office==
{|style="float: right; margin-left:2em" class="wikitable"
|-
| {{center|[[File:Bourguiba portrait (cropped).JPG|140px]]<br/>Habib Bourguiba<br/>Longest presidency:<br/>{{ayd|1957|7|25|1987|11|7|df=y}}<br/>1957–1987}}
| {{center|[[File:Mohamed Ennaceur.jpg|140px]]<br/>Mohamed Ennaceur<br/>Shortest presidency:<br/>{{ayd|2019|7|25|2019|10|23|df=y}}<br/>2019}}
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|-
! Rank
! President
! Time in office
|-
| 1
| [[Habib Bourguiba]]
| {{ayd|1957|7|25|1987|11|7|df=y}}
|-
| 2
| [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]]
| {{ayd|1987|11|7|2011|1|14|df=y}}
|- bgcolor="ccccff"
| 3
| [[Kais Saied]] 
| {{ayd|2019|10|23|df=y}}
|-
| 4
| [[Beji Caid Essebsi]] 
| {{ayd|2014|12|31|2019|7|25|df=y}}
|-
| 5
| [[Moncef Marzouki]]
| {{ayd|2011|12|13|2014|12|31|df=y}}
|-
| 6
| [[Fouad Mebazaa]] <br /> {{small|(Acting President)}} 
| {{ayd|2011|1|15|2011|12|13|df=y}}
|-
| 7
| [[Mohamed Ennaceur]] <br /> {{small|(Acting President)}} 
| {{ayd|2019|7|25|2019|10|23|2019|df=y}}
|}

==Timeline==
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:21
PlotArea  = top:10 bottom:80 right:150 left:20
AlignBars = late

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

Colors =
  id:ind         value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8)    legend:None_(Independent)
  id:neo-destour value:rgb(0.7,0.13,0.13)  legend:New_Constitutional_Liberal_Party
  id:psd         value:rgb(0.78,0.17,0.02) legend:Socialist_Destourian_Party
  id:rcd         value:rgb(0.73,0.11,0.02) legend:Democratic_Constitutional_Rally
  id:cpr         value:rgb(0.47,0.7,0.16)  legend:Congress_for_the_Republic
  id:nt          value:rgb(0.93,0.11,0.14) legend:Nidaa_Tounes

  id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
  id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period     = from:01/01/1957 till:$today
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1960
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1957

Legend     = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170
 
TextData =
  pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M
  text:"Political party:"

BarData =
 bar:Bourguiba
 bar:BenAli
 bar:Mebazaa
 bar:Marzouki
 bar:Essebsi
 bar:Ennaceur
 bar:Saied

PlotData =
  width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

 bar:Bourguiba
  from: 25/07/1957 till: 22/10/1964 color:neo-destour
  from: 22/10/1964 till: 07/11/1987 color:psd         text:"[[Habib Bourguiba]]"
 bar:BenAli
  from: 07/11/1987 till: 27/02/1988 color:psd
  from: 27/02/1988 till: 14/01/2011 color:rcd         text:"[[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]]"
 bar:Mebazaa
  from: 14/01/2011 till: 17/01/2011 color:rcd
  from: 17/01/2011 till: 13/12/2011 color:ind         text:"[[Fouad Mebazaa]] (acting)"
 bar:Marzouki
  from: 13/12/2011 till: 31/12/2014 color:cpr         text:"[[Moncef Marzouki]]"
 bar:Essebsi
  from: 31/12/2014 till: 25/07/2019 color:nt          text:"[[Beji Caid Essebsi]]"
 bar:Ennaceur
  from: 25/07/2019 till: 23/10/2019 color:nt          text:"[[Mohamed Ennaceur]] (acting)"
 bar:Saied
  from: 23/10/2019 till: $today     color:ind         text:"[[Kais Saied]]"

}}

==See also==
* [[Politics of Tunisia]]
* [[List of beys of Tunis]]
* [[List of French residents-general in Tunisia]]
* [[President of Tunisia]]
** [[First Lady of Tunisia]]
* [[Prime Minister of Tunisia]]
** [[List of prime ministers of Tunisia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Tunisia.html World Statesmen - Tunisia]

{{Presidents of Tunisia}}
{{Tunisia topics}}

[[Category:Presidents of Tunisia| ]]
[[Category:Lists of national presidents|Tunisia, List of Presidents of]]
[[Category:Lists of political office-holders in Tunisia|Presidents]]