18 Facts About Youssef Chahed

Youssef Chahed is a Tunisian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Tunisia from 27 August 2016 to 27 February 2020.

Youssef Chahed served as Secretary of State for Fisheries and Minister of Local Affairs in the past.

Since the revolution in January 2011, Prime Minister Chahed has fought for press freedom, speech freedom, and the preservation of civil rights in Tunisia.

Youssef Chahed successfully oversaw a campaign against terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda and ISIS during his mandate.

Youssef Chahed was able to address Tunisia's public budget challenges in spite of a challenging economic environment by utilizing a program that Tunisia had signed with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Youssef Chahed was a member of the Nidaa Tounes party until he formed Tahya Tounes.

Youssef Chahed was elected president of the newly founded Tahya Tounes party on 2 June 2019.

Youssef Chahed then joined the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon in France.

Youssef Chahed graduated in 1999, obtaining a postgraduate diploma in environmental economics and resource and in 2003 a PhD in Agricultural Economics under the direction of Jean-Christophe Bureau.

On 6 August 2016, after President of the Government Habib Essid lost a confidence vote in parliament, Youssef Chahed was nominated by the Nidaa Tounes party to succeed Essid as head of the Government.

Youssef Chahed has been described as "previously unknown" in the political scene before this role.

Youssef Chahed prohibited the entry on Tunisian soil of many extremist predicators including Wajdi Ghnim.

In 2019, Youssef Chahed banned the wearing of the niqab, the full face veil, in public institutions for security reasons, After this decision, he received numerous death threats.

Youssef Chahed's first shot was the arrest of businessman Chafik Jarraya and a number of others allegedly involved in smuggling.

In 2017, Youssef Chahed Government passes historic law to end violence against women and girls.

In 2019, the Youssef Chahed government banned the burka after the 2019 Tunis bombings.

Youssef Chahed will meet regularly with Harvard students and student groups and will speak at events across campus.

The Popular Front, an alliance of leftist opposition parties, called for continued protests against the government's "unjust" austerity measures while Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed denounced the violence and appealed for calm, claiming that he and his government believes that 2018 "would be the last difficult year for the Tunisians".