Kais Saied

Kaïs Saïed (Arabic: قَيْس سُعَيِّد, romanized: Qays Suʿayyid; born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian politician, jurist and former assistant professor of law who has served as the fifth president of Tunisia since 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law from 1995 to 2019.

Having worked in various legal and academic roles since the 1980s, Saied joined the 2019 presidential election as an independent social conservative with a populist anti-corruption platform supported by Ennahda and others across the political spectrum. He won the second round of the election with 72.71% of the vote, defeating Nabil Karoui, and was sworn in as president on 23 October 2019.

As president, Saied has overseen democratic backsliding, as he has repressed the political opposition and dissidents in Tunisia. In January 2021, protests began in response to alleged police brutality, economic hardship and the COVID-19 pandemic. On 25 July 2021, Saied dismissed the parliament and Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, executing a successful self-coup. Since then, Saied oversaw the dismissal of the judiciary and arrest of his main political opposition figures.

He ruled by decree until he was successful in passing a new constitution which granted him more powers and called snap legislative elections. He was re-elected president for a second term in October 2024.