| GEOGRAPHIC NAMES | GEOLOGY | USA STATS | CHINA STATS | COUNTRY CODES | AIRPORTS | RELIGION | JOBS |

Tunisia Government 2016
https://allcountries.org/world_fact_book_2016/tunisia/tunisia_government.html
SOURCE: 2016 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES Spanish Simplified Chinese French German Russian Hindi Arabic Portuguese
Tunisia Government 2016
SOURCE: 2016 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES

Page last updated on February 11, 2016

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Tunisia
conventional short form: Tunisia
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah at Tunisiyah
local short form: Tunis
note: the country name derives from the capital city of Tunis

Government type:
republic

Capital:
name: Tunis
geographic coordinates: 36 48 N, 10 11 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:
24 governorates (wilayat, singular - wilayah); Beja (Bajah), Ben Arous (Bin 'Arus), Bizerte (Banzart), Gabes (Qabis), Gafsa (Qafsah), Jendouba (Jundubah), Kairouan (Al Qayrawan), Kasserine (Al Qasrayn), Kebili (Qibili), Kef (Al Kaf), L'Ariana (Aryanah), Mahdia (Al Mahdiyah), Manouba (Manubah), Medenine (Madanin), Monastir (Al Munastir), Nabeul (Nabul), Sfax (Safaqis), Sidi Bouzid (Sidi Bu Zayd), Siliana (Silyanah), Sousse (Susah), Tataouine (Tatawin), Tozeur (Tawzar), Tunis, Zaghouan (Zaghwan)

Independence:
20 March 1956 (from France)

National holiday:
Independence Day, 20 March (1956); Revolution and Youth Day, 14 January (2011)

Constitution:
several previous; latest approved by Constituent Assembly 26 January 2014, signed by president on 27 January 2014 (2015)

Legal system:
mixed legal system of civil law, based on the French civil code, and Islamic law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session

International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Tunisia
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal except for active government security forces (including the police and the military), people with mental disabilities, people who have served more than three months in prison (criminal cases only), and people given a suspended sentence of more than six months
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Beji CAID ESSEBSI (since 31 December 2014)
head of government: Prime Minister Habib ESSID (since 6 February 2015)
cabinet: selected by the prime minister and approved by the Constituent Assembly
elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 23 November and 21 December 2014 (next to be held in 2019); following legislative elections, the prime minister is selected by the majority party or majority coalition and appointed by the president
election results: Beji CAID ESSEBSI elected president; percent of vote in runoff - Beji CAID ESSEBSI (Tunisia's Call) 55.7%, Moncef MARZOUKI (CPR) 44.3%

Legislative branch:
description: unicameral Chamber of the People's Deputies (217 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)
elections: initial election held on 26 October 2014 (next to be held in 2019)
election results: percent of vote by party - Tunisia's Call 39.6%, al-Nahda 31.8%, UPL 7.4%, Popular Front 6.9%, Afek Tounes 3.7%, CPR 1.8%, other 8.8%; seats by party - Tunisia's Call 86, al-Nahda 69, UPL 16, Popular Front 15, Afek Tounes 8, CPR 4, other 17, independent 2

Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation (organized into 1 civil and 3 criminal chambers)
note: the new Tunisian constitution of January 2014 called for the creation of a constitutional court by the end of 2015; the court will consist of 12 members - 4 each appointed by the president, Supreme Judicial Council or SJC (an independent 4-part body consisting mainly of elected judges and the remainder specialized persons), and the Chamber of the People's Deputies (parliament); members will serve 9-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years; in late 2015, the International Commission of Jurists called on Tunisia's parliament to revise the draft on the constitutional court to ensure compliance with international standards
judge selection and term of office: judges nominated by the SJC; judges appointed by presidential decree; judge tenure NA
subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; administrative courts; Court of Audit; Housing Court; courts of first instance; lower district courts; military courts

Political parties and leaders:
Afek Tounes [Emna MINF] Congress for the Republic or CPR [Imed DAIMI] Current of Love [Mohamed HAMDI] (formerly the Popular Petition party) Democratic Alliance Party [Mohamed HAMDI] Democratic Current [Mohamed ABBOU] Ennahda Movement (The Renaissance) [Rachid GHANNOUCHI] Free Patriotic Union or UPL (Union patriotique libre) [Slim RIAHI] Movement of Socialist Democrats or MDS [Ahmed KHASKHOUSSI] National Destourian Initiative or El Moubadra [Kamel MORJANE] People's Movement [Zouheir MAGHZAOUI] Popular Front (a coalition of 9 parties including Democractic Patriots' Movement, Workers' Party, Green Tunisia, Tunisian Ba'ath Movement, and Party of the Democractic Arab Vanguard) Popular Petition (Aridha Chaabia) [Hachemi HAMDI] Republican Party [Maya JRIBI] The Initiative [Kamel MORJANE] (formerly the Constitutional Democratic Rally or RCD) Tunisia's Call (Nidaa Tounes) [Mohamed ENNACEUR] Tunisian Workers' Communist Party or PCOT [Hamma HAMMAMI]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
18 October Group [collective leadership] Tunisian League for Human Rights or LTDH [Mokhtar TRIFI] Tunisian General Labor Union or UGTT [Hassine ABASSI]

International organization participation:
ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BSEC (observer), CAEU, CD, EBRD, FAO, G-11, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OIF, OPCW, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Faycal GOUIA (since 18 May 2015)
chancery: 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005
telephone: [1] (202) 862-1850
FAX: [1] (202) 862-1858

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel RUBENSTEIN (Since 22 October 2015)
embassy: Zone Nord-Est des Berges du Lac Nord de Tunis 1053
mailing address: Zone Nord-Est des Berges du Lac Nord de Tunis 1053
telephone: [216] 71 107-000
FAX: [216] 71 963-263

Flag description:
red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; resembles the Ottoman flag (red banner with white crescent and star) and recalls Tunisia's history as part of the Ottoman Empire; red represents the blood shed by martyrs in the struggle against oppression, white stands for peace; the crescent and star are traditional symbols of Islam
note: the flag is based on that of Turkey, itself a successor state to the Ottoman Empire

National symbol(s):
encircled red star and crescent; national colors: red, white

National anthem:
name: "Humat Al Hima" (Defenders of the Homeland)
lyrics/music: Mustafa Sadik AL-RAFII and Aboul-Qacem ECHEBBI/Mohamad Abdel WAHAB
note: adopted 1957, replaced 1958, restored 1987; Mohamad Abdel WAHAB also composed the music for the anthem of the United Arab Emirates


NOTE: The information regarding Tunisia on this page is re-published from the 2016 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Tunisia Government 2016 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Tunisia Government 2016 should be addressed to the CIA.


- Please bookmark this page (add it to your favorites).
- If you wish to link to this page, you can do so by referring to the URL address below this line.
https://allcountries.org/world_fact_book_2016/tunisia/tunisia_government.html

This page was last modified 27-Apr-16
Copyright © 1995-2024 , ITA all rights reserved.