Q&A

When did Moncef Marzouki become president of Tunisia?

When did Moncef Marzouki become president of Tunisia?

On 12 December 2011, the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia, a body elected to govern the country and draft a new constitution, elected Marzouki as the interim President of the Tunisian Republic, with 155 votes for, 3 against, and 42 blank votes.

When did Moncef Marzouki move to France?

In 2001, he founded the Congress for the Republic. This political party was banned in 2002, but Marzouki moved to France and continued running it. Following President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ‘s departure from Tunisia and the Tunisian revolution, Marzouki announced his return to Tunisia and his intention to run for the presidency.

When was Moncef Marzouki married to Beatrix Rhein?

In December 2011, during a private civil ceremony in Carthage Palace, he married Beatrix Rhein, a French physician. Marzouki during his speech just after receiving the Chatham House Award, London, 2012. Grand Collar of the Order of Independence (In his capacity as President of the Tunisian Republic)

Where did Habib Bourguiba and Moncef Marzouki live?

Marzouki with Habib Bourguiba in 1982. Born in Grombalia, Tunisia, Marzouki was the son of a Qadi. His father, being a supporter of Salah Ben Youssef (Bourguiba’s opponent), emigrated to Morocco in the late 1950s because of political pressures. Marzouki finished his secondary education in Tangier, where he obtained the Baccalauréat in 1961.


On 12 December 2011, the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia, a body elected to govern the country and draft a new constitution, elected Marzouki as interim president, with 155 votes for, 3 against, and 42 blank votes.

What did Moncef Marzouki do for a living?

In 1993, Marzouki was a founding member of the National Committee for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience, but he resigned after it was taken over by supporters of the government. He was arrested on several occasions on charges relating to the propagation of false news and working with banned Islamist groups.

When did President Marzouki lift the state of emergency?

Marzouki with US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama in 2014. In March 2014, President Marzouki lifted the state of emergency that had been in place since the outbreak of the 2011 revolution, and a top military chief said soldiers stationed in some of the country’s most sensitive areas would return to their barracks.