The Socialist Destourian Party ( ' ; ; ) was the ruling political party of

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

from 1964 to 1988.

Bahi Ladgham Bahi Ladgham (; 10 January 1913 – 13 April 1998) was a Tunisian politician who served as the Secretary of Presidency from 1957 to 1969 ( de facto prime minister) and the prime minister of Tunisia from 7 November 1969 to 2 November 1970. Biogra ...

was the first

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

from the party and

Hédi Baccouche Hédi Baccouche (; 15 January 1930 – 21 January 2020) was the prime minister of Tunisia from 7 November 1987 to 27 September 1989. Baccouche led the Socialist Destourian Party until it changed its name to the Constitutional Democratic Rally in ...

was the last. It was founded on 22 October 1964 and disbanded on 27 February 1988. Habib Bourgiba was the first president of the Socialist Destourian Party from 1964 to 1987. He was succeeded by

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisian Arabic: , ; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine, was a Tunisian politician who served as the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tun ...

from 1987 to 1988.

History

The

Independence of Tunisia Tunisian independence was a process that occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and an independence movement, led by Habib Bourguiba. He became the first Prime Minister of Tunisia, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia after negotiations w ...

from France was negotiated largely by the

Neo Destour The New Constitutional Liberal Party (, '; French: ''Nouveau Parti libéral constitutionnel''), most commonly known as Neo Destour, was a Tunisian political party founded in 1934 in Dar Ayed, the house of independence activist Ahmed Ayed, by a g ...

's Bourguiba. The effective date was March 20, 1956. The next year the Republic of Tunisia was constituted, which replaced the Beylical form of government. Tunisia became a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

, with Neo Destour as the ruling party under Prime Minister and later President Habib Bourguiba. Later the Neo Destour party was renamed the Socialist Destourian Party in 1964, to signal the government's commitment to a socialist phase of political-economic development. This phase failed to fulfill expectations, however, and was discontinued in 1969 with the dismissal of Ahmad ben Salah as economics minister by President Bourguiba. During its existence between 1964 and 1988, the Constitutional Socialist Party witnessed several shocks, the first of which resulted from its abandonment of the socialist experiment in the fall of 1969 without abandoning its name at that time. The party was dissolved by President

Ben Ali Ben Ali may refer to: People * Ben Ali (businessman) (1927–2009), founder of the restaurant Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, DC, USA * Habib Ben Ali (1941–1996), Tunisian criminal * Ibrahim Ben Ali (1756–1800), soldier and physician who was ...

in 1988 and replaced by the

Democratic Constitutional Rally The Democratic Constitutional Rally or Democratic Constitutional Assembly ( ', , sometimes also called Constitutional Democratic Rally in English), also referred to by its French initials RCD, was a political party in Tunisia. Including its pred ...

Leaders

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian politician and statesman who served as the Head of Government of Tunisia, prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia from 1956 to 1957, and then as the first president of Tunisia from 1 ...

(1964-1987) *

(1987-1988)

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Chamber of Deputies elections

References