According to the constitution, the president is elected by universal suffrage for a term of five years. Currently, the president may be re-elected for an unlimited number of terms in office. This in contrast to the term limit of three terms that in place prior to June 2002, excluding the life presidency that existed between 1975 and 1982.
For most of its history as an independent state, Tunisia has lacked political freedom and has seen the violation of human rights. Because of this, presidencial elections in Tunisia, such as that of 2009, have lacked international credibility, with elections dominated by the ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally and its previous incarnations as the Neo Destour party and the Socialist Destourian Party.
Since the promulgation of a republican constitution in June 1959, three years after gaining independence from France, Tunisia has had just two elected presidents. The first president was Habib Bourguiba, who served as president from 1959 after effectively serving as the country's leader from 1956. He was removed from office in a coup d'état in 1987, during which he was declared medically unfit to perform his duties. His successor was Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who served as president from 1987 until 2011, when he was forced from office during an uprising against his rule. Following his departure in January 2011, Mohamed Ghannouchi and Fouad Mebazaa served terms as acting president. Since 12 December 2011, the interim president has been Moncef Marzouki.
