List of prime ministers of Tunisia

Politics of Tunisia
Constitution Constituent Assembly Tunisian Constitution of 2014
Executive President (List) Kais Saied Prime Minister (List) Najla Bouden Cabinet
Legislature Assembly of the Representatives of the People Speaker Rached Ghannouchi
Judiciary Court of Cassation
Elections Recent elections General: 2004 2009 Presidential: 2014 2019 Parliamentary: 2019 2022 Assembly: 2011 Political parties
Administrative divisions Governorates Delegations
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Othman Jerandi Diplomatic missions of / in Tunisia Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Africa portal  Politics portal Other countries
v t

The prime minister of Tunisia is the head of government of Tunisia since the creation of the office in 1800 till its abolition in 1957 with the proclamation of the Republic. The position was revived in 1969 under the Republican system. There have been 15 prime ministers of Tunisia since the office came into existence in 1969. The position existed before independence as the King of Tunisia appointed a grand vizier to be the head of government. However, it was abolished when the Republic was proclaimed in 1957. The 1959 Constitution of Tunisia established a presidential system where the president was both the head of state and the head of government. On November 1969, President Habib Bourguiba brought back the position by appointing Bahi Ladgham to be the first Prime Minister under the republican system.

Before the 2011 revolution the role of the prime minister was limited to assisting the president. With the adoption of the new constitution in 2014, the constitutional powers expanded, making the prime minister responsible of major domestic policies.

The youngest person to become prime minister was Youssef Chahed at 40 years of age while the oldest was Beji Caid Essebsi at 85 years of age. Two prime ministers —Mohamed Ghannouchi and Youssef Chahed— served under more than one president.

Two prime ministers became presidents afterwards: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987–2011) and Beji Caid Essebsi (2014–2019).

There are currently seven living former prime ministers. The most recent former prime minister to die is Hamed Karoui on 27 March 2020.

List of prime ministers[]

Monarchy[]

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party	Head of state (Reign / Term)
Grand Viziers of the Beylik of Tunis
1		Rejeb Khaznadar رجب خزندار ( 17??–1800)		1759	1782	Independent
2		Moustapha Khodja أبو النخبة مصطفى خوجة ( 17??–1800)		1782	1800	Independent
3		Youssef Saheb Ettabaa يوسف صاحب الطابع (c. 1765–1815)		1800	23 January 1815	Independent
4		Mohamed Arbi Zarrouk Khaznadar محمد العربي زروق خزندار (1760–1822)		1815	1822	Independent
5		Hussein Khodja حسين خوجة (?–1857)		1822	1829	Independent
6		Rashid al-Shakir Sahib al-Taba'a شاكير صاحب الطابع (c. 1790–1837)		1829	1837	Independent
7		Mustapha Khaznadar مصطفى خزندار (1817–1878)		1837	22 October 1873	Independent
8		Hayreddin Pasha خير الدين باشا التونسي (1822–1890)		22 October 1873	21 July 1877	Independent
9		Mohammed Khaznadar محمد خزندار (c. 1810–1889)		21 July 1877	24 August 1878	Independent
10		Mustapha Ben Ismail أبو النخبة مصطفى بن اسماعيل (c. 1850–1887)		24 August 1878	12 September 1881	Independent
(9)		Mohammed Khaznadar محمد خزندار (c. 1810–1889)		12 September 1881	October 1882	Independent
11		Mohammed Aziz Bouattour محمد العزيز بوعتور (1825–1907)		October 1882	4 February 1907	Independent
12		M'hamed Djellouli امحمّد جلولي (1834–1908)		18 February 1907	June 1908[1]	Independent
13		Youssef Djaït يوسف جعيط (1830–1915)		June 1908	June 1915	Independent
14		Taïeb Djellouli الطيب جلولي (1857–1944)		October 1915	May 1922	Independent
Prime Ministers of the Beylik of Tunis
1		Mustapha Dinguizli مصطفى الدنقزلي (1865–1926)		May 1922	20 October 1926[1]	Independent
2		Khelil Bouhageb خليل بوحاجب (1863–1942)		3 November 1926	2 March 1932	Independent
3		Hédi Lakhoua الهادي الأخوة (1872–1949)		2 March 1932	31 December 1942	Independent
4		Mohamed Chenik محمد شنيق (1889–1976)	1	1 January 1943	15 May 1943	Independent
5		Slaheddine Baccouche صلاح الدين البكوش (1883–1959)	1	15 May 1943	21 July 1947	Independent	Muhammad VIII al-Amin محمد الثامن الأمين (1943–1956)
6		Mustapha Kaak مصطفى الكعاك (1893–1984)	•	21 July 1947	17 August 1950	Independent
(4)		Mohamed Chenik محمد شنيق (1889–1976)	2	17 August 1950	26 March 1952	Independent
(5)		Slaheddine Baccouche صلاح الدين البكوش (1883–1959)	2	12 April 1952	2 March 1954	Independent
7		Mohamed Salah Mzali محمد الصالح مزالي (1896–1984)	•	2 March 1954	6 July 1954	Independent
—		(1909–1975) Acting Prime Minister		6 July 1954	7 August 1954	Independent
8		Tahar Ben Ammar الطاهر بن عمار (1889–1985)	•	7 August 1954	20 March 1956	Destour
Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Tunisia
(8)		Tahar Ben Ammar الطاهر بن عمار (1889–1985)	•	20 March 1956	11 April 1956	Destour	Muhammad VIII al-Amin محمد الثامن الأمين (1956–1957)
9		Habib Bourguiba حبيب بورقيبة (1903–2000)	•	11 April 1956	25 July 1957[2]	Neo Destour

Republic[]

SDP/DCR (8)   Ennahda (2)   Nidaa Tounes (1)   Tahya Tounes (1)   Ettakatol[3] (1)
Premiership		Portrait	Prime Minister	Prior public office	Party		Election	President[4]
1	7 November 1969 – 2 November 1970		Bahi Ladgham 10 January 1913 – 13 April 1998 (Lived 85 years)	Minister of Defence (1968)		SDP	1969	Habib Bourguiba
2	2 November 1970 – 23 April 1980		Hédi Amara Nouira 5 April 1911 – 25 January 1993 (Lived 81 years)	Minister of Finance (1955–1958)		SDP
							1974
							1979
3	23 April 1980 – 8 July 1986		Mohammed Mzali 23 December 1925 – 23 June 2010 (Lived 84 years)	Minister of Education (1976–1980)		SDP
							1981
4	8 July 1986 – 2 October 1987		Rachid Sfar (1933-09-11) 11 September 1933 (age 88)	Minister of Finance (1986)		SDP
							1986
5	2 October 1987 – 7 November 1987		Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019 (Lived 83 years)	Minister of Interior (1986–1987)		SDP
6	7 November 1987 – 27 September 1989		Hedi Baccouche 15 January 1930 – 21 January 2020 (Lived 90 years)	Minister of Social affairs (1987)		SDP		Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
						DCR	1989
7	27 September 1989 – 17 November 1999		Hamed Karoui 30 December 1927 – 27 March 2020 (Lived 92 years)	Minister of Justice (1987)		DCR
							1994
8	17 November 1999 – 27 February 2011		Mohamed Ghannouchi (1941-08-18) 18 August 1941 (age 80)	Minister of Finance (1991–1992)		DCR	1999
							2004
							2009
						Independent	Tunisian parliament dissolved	Fouad Mebazaa
9	27 February 2011 – 24 December 2011		Beji Caid Essebsi 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019 (Lived 92 years)	Speaker of the Parliament (1990–1991)		Independent
10	24 December 2011 – 14 March 2013		Hamadi Jebali (1949-01-12) 12 January 1949 (age 73)	No prior public office held		Ennahda	2011	Moncef Marzouki
11	14 March 2013 – 29 January 2014		Ali Laarayedh (1955-08-15) 15 August 1955 (age 66)	Minister of the Interior (2011–2013)		Ennahda
12	29 January 2014 – 6 February 2015		Mehdi Jomaa (1962-03-21) 21 March 1962 (age 59)	Minister of Industry (2013–2014)		Independent
13	6 February 2015 – 27 August 2016		Habib Essid (1949-06-01) 1 June 1949 (age 72)	Minister of the Interior (2011)		Independent	2014	Beji Caid Essebsi
14	27 August 2016 – 27 February 2020		Youssef Chahed (1975-09-18) 18 September 1975 (age 46)	Minister of Local Affairs (2016)		Nidaa Tounes
						Tahya Tounes
15	27 February 2020 – 2 September 2020		Elyes Fakhfakh 1972	Minister of Finance (2013–2014)		Ettakatol	2019	Kais Saied
16	1 September 2020 – 25 July 2021		Hichem Mechichi 1974	Minister of the Interior (2020)		Independent
17	11 October 2021 – Incumbent		Najla Bouden (1958-06-29) 29 June 1958 (age 63)	Director at the Ministry of Higher Education (2016–2021)		Independent

Timeline from 1956[]

Rank by time in office[]

Mohamed Ghannouchi Longest premiership: 11 years, 102 days 1999–2011

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Shortest premiership: 36 days 1987

Notes[]