Mohamed Ghannouchi (; born 18 August 1941) is a Tunisian politician who was

Prime Minister of Tunisia A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

from 1999 to 2011. Regarded as a technocrat, Ghannouchi was a long-standing figure in the Tunisian government under President

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 ...

. He also served as the

President of Tunisia The president of Tunisia, officially the president of the Republic of Tunisia (), is the executive head of state of Tunisia. The president exercises executive power with the assistance of a government headed by the Prime Minister of Tunisia, pr ...

from 14 to 15 January 2011, holding the powers and duties of the office nominally for the absent President

, who had fled the country due to the 2011 revolution. On 15 January 2011 the presidency was declared vacant by the Constitutional Court and Ben Ali's term was officially terminated, leading to Speaker of Parliament

Fouad Mebazaa Fouad Mebazaa (; 15 June 1933 – 23 April 2025) was a Tunisian politician who was the acting president of Tunisia from 15 January 2011 to 13 December 2011. He was active in Neo Destour prior to Tunisian independence, served as Minister of Youth ...

taking office as Acting President. Ghannouchi stayed on as prime minister for six more weeks after Ben Ali's overthrow before himself resigning.

Political career

Ghannouchi was a member of the Tunisian parliament for 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 ...

. He was the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1999, he served as Minister of International Co-operation and Foreign Investment, and from 1999 to 2011 he was the Prime Minister of Tunisia, making him the longest serving prime minister since the proclamation of independence, surpassing his predecessor

Hamed Karoui Hamed Karoui (; 30 December 1927 – 27 March 2020) was prime minister of Tunisia from 27 September 1989 to 17 November 1999. From 1986 to 1987 he was Minister of Youth and Sports and from 1988 to 1989 he was Minister of Justice. Born in Sousse, ...

. After the fall of President

on 14 January 2011 in the wake of the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising, he was the self-proclaimed acting president of the country for a few hours starting on 14 January 2011, under Article 56 of the

Constitution of Tunisia A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

. He remained prime minister for six weeks before stepping down.

WikiLeaks description

In a 2006 diplomatic cable from the

United States diplomatic cables leak An incident, commonly referred to as Cablegate, began on 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around ...

, Ghannouchi was described as being generally popular among the population of Tunisia. Passport, a blog by ''

Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

'', gave a different view of Ghannouchi, saying he "is not necessarily any more popular than Ben Ali, though he's not nearly as tainted by the lurid tales of corruption and excess that so damaged the ruling family. But Tunisians certainly don't respect the prime minister; they call him 'Mr. Oui Oui' because he's always saying yes to Ben Ali".

Role following 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising

On 14 January 2011, before Ben Ali had fled the country during the Tunisian Revolution, Ghannouchi announced that Ben Ali had called for parliamentary elections in six months, dismissed the government, and asked him to form a new government. During the evening, Ghannouchi announced that he was taking temporary control of the country on state television. Ghannouchi promised to begin discussing political and economic reforms the next day. Ghannouchi said he would hold new elections within sixty days, as required by the Tunisian Constitution. On January 15, ''The Economist'' reported that some protesters were calling for Ghannouchi to step down. On that same day, it was announced that

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

was taking the post of Acting President of Tunisia.

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

claimed that some lawyers disagreed with Ghannouchi's claim to power, interpreting the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

differently, in particular referring to Article 57. Afterwards he resumed as prime minister and formed a new national unity government that included members of opposition parties, civil society representatives, and even a blogger, Slim Amamou, who only a week previously had been imprisoned by the regime of the deposed President. Ghannouchi resigned his membership of the RCD on 18 January. His resignation was followed by similar actions from other RCD members within the government; but on 27 January, Ghannouchi carried out a major reshuffle of the government to remove most former RCD members other than himself. After a new wave of protests, Ghannouchi resigned as PM on 27 February 2011. The current whereabouts of Ghannounchi to this day are unknown, but it is likely Ghannounchi is still residing in Tunisia with his family.

Awards and honors

*Knight of the Order of Independence (Tunisia) *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia *Grand Cordon of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia *Grand Cordon of the Order of 7 NovemberMr Mohammed Ghannouchi
Portal of the Prime ministry- Tunisia *Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(Japan)

Personal life

Ghannouchi is married and has two children.

References

External links

*
Tunisian Government
Official Website

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 14 January 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghannouchi, Mohamed 1941 births Living people Tunisian Muslims Tunisian politicians People from Sousse Socialist Destourian Party politicians Democratic Constitutional Rally politicians Tunis University alumni Prime ministers of Tunisia People of the Tunisian revolution Finance ministers of Tunisia Planning ministers of Tunisia 21st-century presidents of Tunisia Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Tunisia) Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Tunisia) Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun