35 Facts About Kais Saied

Kais Saied is a Tunisian politician, jurist and retired law professor currently serving as the 8th President of Tunisia since October 2019.

Kais Saied was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law from 1995 to 2019.

On 25 July 2021, Kais Saied dismissed the parliament and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, executing a successful self-coup.

Since the self-coup, Kais Saied oversaw the dismissal of judiciary and arrest of politicians.

Kais Saied ruled by decree until he was successful in passing a new constitution which granted him more powers and called snap legislative elections which resulted in a record low turnout.

Kais Saied is the son of Moncef Saied and Zakia Bellagha from Beni Khiar.

Kais Saied's family is of rather modest origin but intellectual and a member of the middle class.

Kais Saied was a member of the scientific council of several commissions academics.

From 2013 to 2014, Kais Saied participated in several political clubs and meetings, which bring together young people.

Kais Saied was one of the first declared candidates in the 2019 Tunisian presidential election.

Kais Saied suggested to voters that many of Tunisia's current issues were due to "non-respect for many constitutional laws".

Kais Saied presented a plan to combat corruption, whether it is "moral or financial".

Kais Saied made statements that public expression of homosexuality is financed and encouraged by foreign countries, telling the paper:.

Kais Saied has taken conservative positions on women's issues as well, coming out against gender equality in inheritance issues, in accordance with the interpretation of religious law.

Kais Saied is against normalisation of relations with Israel, saying that Israel is at war with the Muslim world, and any Muslim leader who normalizes his or her country's relationship with the Zionists should be tried for treason.

Kais Saied said his country has no problem with Jews and that Tunisians including his father protected Jews during the Second World War.

Kais Saied has stated that he is in favor of a decentralised, three-tier, indirect manner of electing national legislative representatives, some elements of direct democracy, and believes that local representatives should be elected based on character and its underlying structure rather than political ideology.

Kais Saied is not in favor of adding religious elements to the constitution, stating that these were only his personal beliefs.

Kais Saied received 620,711 votes in the first round of the 2019 Tunisian presidential election, coming in first place, and moved on to face Karoui in the second round.

Kais Saied took office nine days later, becoming only the second president who was not an heir to the legacy of the country's founding president, Habib Bourguiba.

Kais Saied was sworn in as Tunisia's president on 23 October 2019.

Kais Saied is the first president born after the country gained independence from France in 1956.

Kais Saied refused to stay at the presidential palace of Carthage, preferring his villa in Mnihla, located in the governorate of Ariana.

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.

Kais Saied therefore had ten days to appoint a new head of government.

On 25 July 2020, Kais Saied appointed Hichem Mechichi 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.

On 25 July 2021, in light of violent demonstrations against the government demanding the improvement of basic services and amid a growing COVID-19 outbreak, Kais Saied suspended parliament for thirty days and relieved the prime minister Hichem Mechichi of his duties, waiving the immunity of the parliament members and ordering the military to close the parliament house.

On 24 August 2021, Kais Saied extended the suspension of parliament, although the constitution states the parliament can only be suspended for a month, raising concerns in some quarters about the future of democracy in the country.

Kais Saied named Najla Bouden as Prime Minister on 29 September 2021.

On 13 December 2021, Kais 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 Kais Saied would appoint a committee of experts to draft a new constitution, to be ready by June ahead of the referendum that will take place on 25 July 2022.

Kais Saied said that new parliamentary elections will be held on 17 December 2022, after going through the referendum and preparing a new electoral system.

In February 2022, Kais Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council, the body charged with judicial independence.

On Sunday, 13 February 2022, Kais Saied issued a proclamation appointing a temporary Supreme Judiciary Council.

Kais Saied is married to the judge Ichraf Chebil, whom he met when she was a law student in Sousse.

Kais Saied is the author of a number of works on constitutional law, including:.