, 23 October 2019|246x246px Saied was sworn in as Tunisia's president on 23 October 2019, becoming the first president born after the country's independence from
France in 1956.
Transition and investiture The results of the presidential election were announced by the
Independent High Authority for Elections on 17 October. On the same day, Kaïs Saïed chose his brother Naoufel, also a professor of constitutional law, to appoint the advisers and members of the presidential cabinet. The office of the
Assembly of the Representatives of the People met on 18 October and fixed the oath on 23 October. This date corresponds to the maximum duration of the presidential interim of 90 days. Saied took his oath before the outgoing Assembly on 23 October, at the
Presidential Palace of Carthage, during which he promised to fight against
terrorism and its causes, as well as to guarantee the gains of Tunisian women, while strengthening economic and
social rights. He later met with the interim president,
Mohamed Ennaceur, who transferred presidential powers to Saied.
First steps Saied refused to stay at the
presidential palace in Carthage, preferring his villa in Mnihla, located in the
governorate of Ariana. On 30 October, he appointed diplomat Tarek Bettaïeb as head of the presidential cabinet, General
Mohamed Salah Hamdi as national security adviser, with Tarek Hannachi leading the protocol. Abderraouf Bettaïeb was appointed Minister-Advisor to the President of the Republic, Rachida Ennaifer was put in charge of communication, while Nadia Akacha became responsible for legal affairs.
Government formation , 7 September 2021|246x246px The government being semi-presidential, Kais Saied had a week after his inauguration to instruct the party which took the lead in the legislative elections to form a government. The latter then has a month to obtain the confidence of the Assembly of People's Representatives. On 15 November 2019, Saied appointed
Habib Jemli, the candidate for
Ennahda, to the post of head of government and charged him with forming a cabinet. On 10 January 2020, the Assembly rejected the composition of the government, which was also subject to delays when it was announced. Saied therefore had ten days to appoint a new head of government. On 20 January 2020, he appointed
Elyes Fakhfakh. His government was announced on 15 February, but Ennahda, whose ministers were announced there, announced that he would not vote for confidence because of the non-participation of
Heart of Tunisia. A slightly modified version of the government, but without the participation of Heart of Tunisia, was announced on 19 February; Ennahdha, fearing a dissolution, voted to accept the government. On 27 February, the Assembly of People's Representatives granted confidence to the government. In June 2020, according to
Al Jazeera, "an independent member of Parliament published documents indicating that Fakhfakh owned shares in companies that won deals worth 44 million dinars". Fakhfakh denied any wrongdoing. On 15 July 2020, he resigned. On 25 July 2020, Saïed appointed
Hichem Mechichi who was the former interior minister as head of government, with the task of forming a government in one month and obtaining the confidence of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People. Later on, he assumed office on 2 September 2020.
2021 self-coup at
Quirinal Palace, 16 June 2021 in
Washington, D.C., 22 December 2022On 25 July 2021, in light of
demonstrations against the government demanding the improvement of basic services and amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, Saied suspended parliament for thirty days and relieved the
prime minister Hichem Mechichi of his duties. Saied's actions, which included assuming the executive authority, suspending the Parliament, waiving the immunity of the parliament members, ordering the military to close the parliament building, and closing the offices of some foreign news agencies, was classed by scholars as a self-coup, as he disregarded Article 80 of the Tunisian constitution, which states that before raising an emergency state, the president must consult his prime minister and the head of the parliament, and even then, the parliament cannot be suspended. However, there was no constitutional court in Tunisia to offer jurisdiction in his interpretation of the constitution. The president's decisions were also denounced by human rights organizations and considered by several foreign media outlets and Tunisian political entities as a
self-coup. The self-coup came after a series of
protests against the Ennahda-led government, economic difficulties, and the collapse of the Tunisian health system., Italian Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni and Dutch Prime Minister
Mark Rutte, 16 July 2023On 24 August 2021, Saied extended the suspension of parliament, although the constitution stated the parliament can only be suspended for a month, raising concerns in some quarters about the future of democracy in the country. On 22 September, Saied announced that he will
rule by decree and ignore parts of the constitution. Saied named
Najla Bouden as Prime Minister on 29 September 2021, making her the first female prime minister both in Tunisia and the
Arab world. Protests against consolidation of power continued in October 2021. On 13 December 2021, Saied extended the suspension of the parliament until a new election takes place, and announced a nationwide public consultation that would take place from 1 January until 20 March 2022 to gather suggestions for constitutional and other reforms after which Saied would appoint a committee of experts to draft a new constitution. The draft was released in 30 June ahead of the
2022 Tunisian constitutional referendum, with Saied announcing that
new parliamentary elections would be held on 17 December 2022, after going through the referendum and preparing a new electoral system. The referendum was scheduled for 25 July 2022, with opposition, such as the
National Salvation Front—a coalition made up of several political parties, including Ennahda,
Al Amal, the
Dignity Coalition,
Heart of Tunisia, announcing that they would boycott the referendum. The new constitution was approved with 94.5% of the vote, despite a low turnout of 30.5%. Saied declared victory and promised that Tunisia will enter the new phase after he got increased power, some of which was unchecked. After the
parliamentary election, the National Salvation Front called for Kais Saied to resign after less than 9% of eligible voters took part in the elections. Since the self-coup, several high-ranking politicians, such as former prime ministers
Ali Larayedh and
Hamadi Jebali, and former president
Moncef Marzouki, have been arrested. On 5 January 2022, the Tunisian judiciary referred 19 predominantly high-ranking politicians to court for "electoral violations" allegedly committed during the 2019 presidential elections. Among the 19 were four former prime ministers,
Youssef Chahed,
Elyes Fakhfakh,
Mehdi Jomaa and Hamadi Jebali, as well as former president Moncef Marzouki, and the head of the Ennahda party movement,
Rachid Ghannouchi. In February 2022, Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council, the body charged with
judicial independence. According to the country's justice minister, the Saied has indicated that rather than eliminating the Supreme Judicial Council, he will restructure it. This comes days after the country's decision to disband the highest judicial body, which drew international condemnation. As a result of the president's decisions, more than two hundred judges and attorneys in black robes demonstrated outside the main court in Tunisia's capital in February 2022. On 13 February 2022, Saied issued a proclamation appointing a temporary Supreme Judiciary Council.
Immigration In February 2023, Saied made comments about African immigration into Tunisia, saying that they were
changing the demographic makeup of the country in order to make it a “purely African” nation. The comments were condemned as
racist, including by
Amnesty International and the
African Union. In July 2023, a deal with the
European Union on immigration was finalised, following talks with European Commission president
Ursula Von der Leyen, then Dutch prime minister
Mark Rutte, and Italian prime minister
Giorgia Meloni.
Relationship with Israel Kais Saied is part of the Tunisian tradition of radical support for the Palestinian cause, considering any relationship with Israel to be high treason. In May 2023, after the
attack on Djerba, he condemned the attack, rejected all accusations of state antisemitism, and refused to describe the attack as antisemitic. He received Muslim, Jewish, and Christian religious figures, rejected diplomatic recognition of Israel, and called for not conflating
Judaism with
Zionism. It was announced in September 2023 that the name of the
Storm Daniel that destroyed Libya reflects the influence of the global Zionist movement. Shortly after the
October 7 attacks, Saied expressed Tunisia's full and unconditional support for the Palestinian people, while avoiding mention of
Hamas.
Press freedom In September 2022, the Tunisian president Kais Saied signed Decree Law 54, which purported to combat "
false information and rumours" on the Internet. Article 24 of the decree gives up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to 50,000
dinar for anyone found to be spreading such information. This is doubled if the offending statement is made about a state official. In October 2025, a 56 year old man named Saber Chouchane was sentenced to death for posting on Facebook contents that criticized the president, a ruling which was called "shocking and unprecented". This ruling was based on article 72 of the penal code i.e. "attack aimed at changing the form of government"; Tunisia has had a moratorium on
death penalty since 1991. Saber Chouchane was imprisoned in January 2024 and, after a wave of criticism and protests, was finally released due to “a presidential pardon”.
Environmental policy In 2023, increased
water scarcity due to
climate change led the government to establish water rationing in some regions. Additionally, "In May 2023, the Tunisian government said that the wheat harvest was expected to reach only 250,000 tons of grain compared to an annual average of 1.5 million tons, causing the country to import 95% of its grain, "which has led to bread rationing and forced many bakeries to shut their doors". While the government of Kais Saied has tried taking some measures to address the problem, "Tunisians were, globally, the population most dissatisfied with efforts to preserve the environment (tied with Lebanon), according to a Gallup poll". == Personal life ==