Kaïs Saïed

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Kaïs Saïed
قيس سعيّد
Saïed in 2019
6th President of Tunisia
Assumed office
October 23, 2019
Prime MinisterYoussef Chahed
Elyes Fakhfakh
Hichem Mechichi
Najla Bouden Romdhane
Ahmed Hachani
Preceded byMohamed Ennaceur (acting)
Personal details
Born (1958-02-22) 22 February 1958 (age 66)
Béni Khiar, Nabeul, Tunisia
Political partyIndependent

Kaïs Saïed (Arabic: قيس سعيد) (born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian jurist, politician and professor of constitutional law. Saïed is the 6th and current President of Tunisia since October 2019. He successfully ran as an Independent candidate for President in the 2019 election.[1]

Early life[change | change source]

Saïed is a Professor at the Université de Tunis. He was the Secretary-General of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law between 1990 and 1995 and has been the vice president of the organization since 1995.

Presidency[change | change source]

Saïed received 620,711 votes in the first round of the 2019 election, coming in first place and moved on to face businessman Nabil Karoui in the second round.[2] He defeated Karoui in the October run-off election winning 72.7% of the vote.[3]

The regime being semi-presidential, Kaïs Saïd has a week after his inauguration to charge the party that came first in the legislative elections to form a government. The latter then has one month to obtain the confidence of the Assembly of People's Representatives.

From a practical point of view, he refuses to lodge in the presidential palace of Carthage, preferring his villa to Mnihla, located in the governorate of Ariana.

On October 30, he appointed diplomat Tarek Bettaïeb as head of the presidential cabinet, General Mohamed Salah Hamdi as national security advisor, while Tarek Hannachi led the protocol. Abderraouf Bettaïeb is minister-advisor to the President of the Republic, Rachida Ennaifer in charge of communication, while Nadia Akacha is responsible for legal affairs.

On November 15, 2019, he appointed Habib Jemli, Ennahdha's candidate, for the post of head of government and charged him with forming a government.

On 25 July 2021, Saied fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and froze the Assembly of Representatives, causing a political crisis in the country.[4] In September 2021, he picked Najla Bouden Romdhane to become the next prime minister.[5]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Présidentielle 2019 : Biographie de Kais Saied, vainqueur du premier tour". Webdo (in French). 16 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  2. "Tunisia elections: 'Robocop' and 'Berlusconi' head to second round". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  3. "In a blow to its political elites, a modest law professor is set to become Tunisia's next president". The Washington Post. 14 October 2019.
  4. Amara, Tarek; Mcdowall, Angus (26 July 2021). "Tunisian democracy in crisis after president ousts government". Reuters. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. "Tunisia's president names Bouden first woman PM, asks her to form govt". France 24. 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-09-29.

Other websites[change | change source]