Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; Arabic: محمد
الباجي قائد السبسي, romanized: Muhammad
al-Bājī Qā’id as-Sibsī, 
pronunciation (help·info);
29 November 1926[1] – 25 July 2019)[2] was a Tunisian politician who was the
fifth President of Tunisia from
December 2014 until his death. Previously he served as Minister
of Foreign Affairs from 1981 to 1986 and as Prime Minister from
February 2011 to December 2011.[3][4]
pronunciation (help·info);
29 November 1926[1] – 25 July 2019)[2] was a Tunisian politician who was the
fifth President of Tunisia from
December 2014 until his death. Previously he served as Minister
of Foreign Affairs from 1981 to 1986 and as Prime Minister from
February 2011 to December 2011.[3][4]
Essebsi was the founder of the Nidaa Tounes political party, which won a
plurality in the 2014
parliamentary election. In December 2014, he won the first
regular presidential
election following the Tunisian Revolution,
becoming Tunisia's first freely elected president.[5]
Contents
Born in Sidi Bou Said to a family from the élite family of Italian background,
he was a great-grandson of Ismail Caïd Essebsi, a Sardinian kidnapped by corsairs in
Ottoman Tunisia along the coasts of Sardinia at the beginning of the
nineteenth century who became a mamluk leader raised with the ruling
family after converting to Islam. He was later
recognized as a free man when he became an important member of the government.[6][7]
Essebsi's first involvement in politics
came in 1941, when he joined the Neo Destour youth organization in Hammam-Lif.[8][9] He studied law in Paris and
became a lawyer in 1952 at the Tunis bar, where he began his career with the
defence of Neo Destour activists. He was a follower of Tunisia's
post-independence leader Habib Bourguiba. He then joined Bourguiba as
an adviser following the country's independence from France in 1956.
From 1957 to 1971, he performed various
functions such as director of the regional administration, general director of
the Sûreté nationale, Interior Minister from 5 July 1965 to 8
September 1969, Minister-Delegate to the Prime Minister, Defence Minister from
7 November 1969 to 12 June 1970, and then Ambassador in Paris.
From October 1971 to January 1972, he
advocated greater democracy in Tunisia and resigned his function, then returned
to Tunis.
In April 1981, he came back to the
government under Mohamed Mzali as Minister
of Foreign Affairs, serving until September 1986.[7][8]
In 1987, he switched allegiance following
Ben Ali's removal of Bourguiba from power. He was appointed as Ambassador to
Germany. From 1990 to 1991, he was the President of the Chamber of
Deputies.[8]
On 27 February 2011, in the aftermath of
the Tunisian Revolution,
Tunisian Prime MinisterMohamed Ghannouchi resigned
following a day of clashes in Tunis with five
protesters being killed. On the same day, acting President Fouad Mebazaa appointed Caïd Essebsi as
the new Prime Minister, describing him as "a person with an impeccable
political and private life, known for his profound patriotism, his loyalty and
his self-sacrifice in serving his country." The mostly young protesters
however continued taking their discontent to the streets, criticizing the
unilateral appointment of Caïd Essebsi without further consultation.[10]
On 5 May accusations of the former Interior
Minister Farhat Rajhi that
a coup d'etat was being prepared against
the possibility of the Islamist Ennahda Party winning the Constituent
Assembly election in October, again led to several days of
fierce anti-Government protests and clashes on the streets.[11] In the interview disseminated
on Facebook, Rajhi called Caïd Essebsi a
"liar", whose government had been manipulated by the old Ben Ali
circles.[12] Caïd Essebsi strongly rejected
Rajhi's accusations as "dangerous and irresponsible lies, [aimed at
spreading] chaos in the country" and also dismissed him from his post as
director of the High Commission for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,
which he had retained after being dismissed from the office as Interior
Minister already on 8 March. Nevertheless, Ennahda's president Rached Ghannouchi further fueled the
suspicions, stating that "Tunisians doubt the credibility of the
Transitional Government."[11]
After the elections in October, Caïd
Essebsi left office on 24 December 2011 when the new Interim President Moncef Marzoukiappointed Hamadi Jebali of the Islamist Ennahda,
which had become the largest parliamentary group.[13]
Main article: 2014
Tunisian presidential election
Following his departure from office, Caïd
Essebsi founded the secular Nidaa Tounes party, which won a plurality
of the seats in the October
2014 parliamentary election.[14] He was also the party's
candidate in the country's first free presidential elections, in November 2014.[15]
On 22 December 2014, official election
results showed that Essebsi had defeated incumbent President Moncef Marzouki in the second round of
voting, receiving 55.68% of the vote.[16] After the polls closed the
previous day, Essebsi said on local television that he dedicated his victory to
"the martyrs of Tunisia".[17]
Essebsi with U.S
Secretary of State John Kerry(19
September 2016 in New York City).
Essebsi was sworn in as President on 31
December 2014 at the age of 88. He vowed on that occasion to "be president
of all Tunisian men and women without exclusion" and stressed the
importance of "consensus among all parties and social movements".[18]
On 3 August 2016, Essebsi appointed Youssef Chahed as a prime minister as the
parliament withdrew confidence from Habib Essid's government.[19]
In 2017 he called for legal amendments to
the inheritance law to ensure equal rights for men and women, and he called for
Tunisian women to be able to marry non-Muslims, which he believes is not in
direct conflict with Sharia or the Tunisian constitution.[20]
In 2018 he proposed a revision of the
electoral law which, according to him, contains many shortcomings going against
the principles of the revolution.[21]
On 13 August 2018, he promised also to
submit a bill to parliament soon that aims to give women equal inheritance
rights with men, as debate over the topic of inheritance reverberated around
the Muslim world.[22]
Concerning the economic crisis of Tunisia,
he had declared that the year 2018 would be difficult but the hope of economic
revival is still possible.[23]
In April 2019, Essebsi announced he would
not seek a second term in that
year's presidential election, saying it was time to "open the
door to the youth."[24]
Essebsi died five months before the end of
his term in office.[2]
Essebsi married Chadlia Saïda Farhat on
8 February 1958.[25] The couple had four children:
two daughters, Amel and Salwa, and two sons, Mohamed Hafedh and Khélil.[26]
On 27 June 2019, Essebsi was hospitalized
at a military hospital in Tunis under critical condition due to a "severe
medical crisis".[27] The following day his
condition stabilized.[28] He died on 25 July 2019 after
being admitted to hospital the previous day.[2]
Beji Caid Essebsi on the
cover of the magazine Tunivisions,
January 2012.
·
Grand Master & Grand Collar of the
Order of Independence (automatic upon taking presidential office)[29]
·
Grand Master & Grand Collar of
the Order of
the Republic (automatic upon taking presidential office)[29]
·
Grand Master & Grand cordon of the
National Order of Merit (automatic upon taking presidential office)[29]
·
Italy:
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of Order
of Merit of the Italian Republic (8 January 2017)[34]
Italy:
Knight Grand Cross with Collar of Order
of Merit of the Italian Republic (8 January 2017)[34]
·
Malta :
Honorary Companions of Honour with Collar of the National
Order of Merit (Malta) (5 February 2019)[35]
Malta :
Honorary Companions of Honour with Collar of the National
Order of Merit (Malta) (5 February 2019)[35]
·
Honorary Degree from Paris-Sorbonne
University (2015)[37]
·
Founder’s Award of International
Crisis Group (2015)[38]
·
Freedom of the City of Amman (2015)[39]
·
Medal
of Arab tourism (2017)[40]
·
Tunisian Politician of the Year (2017)[41]
·
Leadership Award of Global
Hope Coalition (2018)[42]
·
Bourguiba : le bon grain et l'ivraie, éd. Sud Éditions,
Tunis, 2009
·
La Tunisie : la démocratie en terre
d'islam (with
Arlette Chabot), éd. Plon, Paris, 2016
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