Mohamed Ghannouchi

Not to be confused with Rashid Al-Ghannushi.

Mohamed Ghannouchi محمد الغنوشي
Prime Minister of Tunisia
In office 17 November 1999 – 27 February 2011
President	Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Fouad Mebazaa (Acting)
Preceded by	Hamed Karoui
Succeeded by	Beji Caid el Sebsi
President of Tunisia Acting
In office 14 January 2011 – 15 January 2011
Preceded by	Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Succeeded by	Fouad Mebazaa (Acting)
Personal details
Born	18 August 1941 (1941-08-18) (age 70) Sousse, French Protectorate of Tunisia (now Tunisian Republic)
Political party	Independent (2011–present)[1]
Other political affiliations	Constitutional Democratic Rally (Before 2011)
Alma mater	Tunis University
Religion	Sunni Islam

Mohamed Ghannouchi (Arabic: محمد الغنوشي‎; born 18 August 1941) was the Prime Minister of Tunisia and was self-proclaimed acting President of the country for a few hours starting 14 January 2011,^[2][3] under Article 56 of the Constitution of Tunisia.^[4][5] Regarded as a technocrat, Ghannouchi has been a long-standing figure in the Tunisian government; he was Minister of Finance from 1989 to 1992, Minister of International Cooperation from 1992 to 1999, and Prime Minister of Tunisia from 1999 to 2011.^[6]

Political career

Ghannouchi is a member of the Tunisian parliament for the Democratic Constitutional Rally. From 1992 to 1999, he was the Minister of International Co-operation and Foreign Investment, and from 1999 to 2011 he was the Prime Minister of Tunisia^[6] until the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14 in the wake of the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising.

In a 2006 diplomatic cable from the United States that was leaked by WikiLeaks during the United States diplomatic cables leak, Ghannouchi was described as being generally popular among the population of Tunisia.^[7] Ghannouchi was seen as a respected technocrat by US diplomats in early 2010, with a cable stating, "Prime Minister Ghannouchi, the respected, dilligent [sic], pragmatic, and apolitical technocrat, has served in his post since 1999 and with his reappointment appears set to surpass longevity records for senior officials since Tunisia's independence in 1956. Tunis oddsmakers had expected Ghannouchi, reportedly tired after a decade on the job, to move on, but it appears Ben Ali has come to view him as indispensible."^[8] Passport, a blog by Foreign Policy, 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".^[9]

Role following 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising

On January 14, 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.^[10] During the evening, Ghannouchi announced that he was taking temporary control of the country on state television.^[11] Ghannouchi promised to begin discussing political and economic reforms the next day.^[12] Ghannouchi has said he will hold new elections within sixty days, as required by the Tunisian Constitution.^[13] On January 15, The Economist Online reported that some protesters were calling for Ghannouchi to step down.^[13] On that same day, it was announced that Congress Speaker Fouad Mebazaa was taking the post of Acting President of Tunisia.^[14]

Al Jazeera claimed that some lawyers disagreed with Ghannouchi's claim to power, interpreting the constitution differently, in particular referring to Article 57.^[15]

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 previous had been imprisoned by the regime of the deposed President.^[16]

Ghannouchi resigned his membership of the RCD on 18 January. His resignation was followed by similar action by the other RCD members within the government; but on 27 January Ghannouchi carried out a major reshuffle of the government to remove all former RCD members other than himself.

After a new wave of protests, Ghannouchi resigned as PM on 27 February 2011.^[17][18]

Awards and honors

• Knight of the Order of Independence
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic
• Grand Cordon of the Order of 7 November^[19]

Personal life

He is married and has two children.^[19]

See also

• Cabinet of Tunisia

References

1. ^ "Tunisia: New government leaders quit ruling party". BBC News. 18 January 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12220862. 
2. ^ "Tunisia: President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced out". bbc.co.uk. 14 January 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12195025. 
3. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (14 January 2011). "Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali flees Tunisia as interim president takes control". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/tunisian-president-flees-country-protests. 
4. ^ "Ben Ali quits after 23 yrs in power & leaves Tunisia". alarabiya. 14 January 2011. http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/01/14/133432.html. 
5. ^ "PM replaces Tunisia president". aljazeera. 14 Jan 2011. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011114172228117723.html. 
6. ^ ^{a b} TUNISIA - Mohamed Ghannouchi AllBusiness, 9 April 2001
7. ^ Black, Ian (15 January 2011). "Tunisia: The WikiLeaks connection". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/15/tunisia-wikileaks-ghannouchi. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
8. ^ Gray, Gordon (2010-01-15). Ben Ali's January 14 cabinet shuffle is a nod to the U.S., but not a strategic reversal. WikiLeaks/Al Akhbar (Lebanon). WikiLeaks cable:10TUNIS34. Archived from the original on 2011-01-15. http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/soc/wl/al-akhbar/10TUNIS34.html. Retrieved 2011-01-15. 
9. ^ Hounshell, Blake. "Mr. Oui Oui takes charge". Foreign Policy. http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/14/mr_oui_oui_takes_charge. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
10. ^ "Ben Ali dismissed the government". # Ennaharonline. 14 January 2011. http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/international/5540.html. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
11. ^ Kirkpatrick, David (14 January 2011). "Prime Minister Claims Power in Tunisia as President Flees". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/world/africa/15tunis.html?src=me. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
12. ^ Borzou Daragahi; Sihem Hassaini (15 January 2011). "Tunisia protests force president from power". The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-0115-tunisia-protests-20110115,0,4294274.story. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "Mohamed Ghannouchi". The Economist Online. http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/01/tunisias_troubles. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
14. ^ TUNEZ: 57 MUERTOS EN INCENDIO EN PRISION DE MONASTIR
15. ^ "Constitutional debate after Ben Ali". al Jazeera. 2011-01-14. Archived from the original on 2011-01-14. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011114204942484776.html. Retrieved 2011-01-15. 
16. ^ "Out with the old?". The Economist. 19 January 2011. http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/01/new_government_tunisia. Retrieved 19 January 2011. 
17. ^ Tunisian interim PM Ghannouchi resigns over protests, BBC News]], February 27, 2011
18. ^ Tunisia prime minister resigns after protests, Reuters, February 27, 2011
19. ^ ^{a b} Mr Mohammed Ghannouchi Portal of the Prime ministry- Tunisia

External links

• Tunisian Government Official Website
• Transcript of Tunisian Prime Minister’s Announcement That He Has Assumed Power, The New York Times, January 14, 2011

Political offices
Preceded by Hamed Karoui	Prime Minister of Tunisia 1999–2011	Succeeded by Beji Caid el Sebsi
Preceded by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali	President of Tunisia Acting 2011	Succeeded by Fouad Mebazaa Acting

Persondata
Name	Ghannouchi, Mohamed
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 August 1941
Place of birth	Sousse, Tunisia
Date of death
Place of death