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Tunisia: 35 Years Ago, Ben Ali Dismissed Bourguiba

November 7, 1987, marks a change at the head of Tunisia. Ben Ali dismissed President Habib Bourguiba and took power, thus becoming himself President of the Republic, Chief of the Armed Forces, without having to hold elections.

Weakened by illness and old age, Tunisia’s first president, Habib Bourguiba, was removed from power on November 7, 1987, by his Prime Minister, General Zine Abidine Ben Ali.

Ben Ali invokes Article 57 of the 1959 Constitution and, in the light of a medical report signed by seven doctors attesting to Bourguiba’s inability to perform his duties, files him for senility.

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Ben Ali then constitutionally becomes the dolphin of the “supreme fighter” who had led the national struggle against French colonization. Indeed, at that time, it is the Prime Minister who is the successor of the President of the Republic in the event of a vacancy of the post, and this was until the end of the legislature.

The new head of state then made a short speech on the national radio station Radio Tunis, in which he explained the reasons for his seizure of power, which took place without bloodshed or gunshots.

Thus, after 32 years in power, President Bourguiba, elected president for life, was officially deposed by his Prime Minister and placed under house arrest until his death on April 6, 2000, in his native town, Monastir, 160 km south of Tunis.

At 51, Ben Ali becomes Tunisia’s second president. He ruled the country with an iron fist for 23 years (1987-2011). On January 14, 2011, Bourguiba’s successor was forced to leave power following a large-scale popular uprising.

Thirty-five years after Bourguiba and twelve years after Ben Ali, Tunisia is currently experiencing a serious economic crisis, exacerbated by the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, and the high cost of importing energy and basic materials because of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

The country has also been going through a political crisis since July 25, when President Kais Saied imposed emergency measures, including the dissolution of Parliament, the promulgation of laws by presidential decrees, the dismissal of the Prime Minister, and the appointment of a new government.

The majority of political and civil forces in Tunisia reject these measures, and consider them a “coup against the Constitution” of 2014, while other forces see them as a “recovery of the process of the 2011 revolution”, that overthrew the regime of then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

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