Habib Bourguiba

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Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali took over in a bloodless coup in 1987

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, led for 23 years before his retirement in January 2011 amid an unprecedented wave of protest demonstrations.

As President, Ben Ali was credited with delivering the necessary stability and a measure of economic well-being, but he received widespread criticism for suppressing political freedoms.

Six months after he had been expelled, he and his wife were found guilty in absentia by a Tunisian court for embezzlement and misuse of public funds, and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

In 2012, a separate court sentenced him in absentia sentenced to life in prison over The Killing of protesters.

Ben Ali was born to a modest family near The City of Sousse in 1936.

After his training in France and the United States, he rose to the top of the hierarchy in the Tunisian security apparatus and served as Ambassador to Poland in the early 1980s.

He was Prime Minister in 1987, shortly before ousting Tunisia's first post-independence ruler, Habib Bourguiba , in a bloodless Palace revolution. President Bourguiba was declared to govern mentally incapable.

Ben Ali promised a gradual transition to democracy, although in his first two presidential polls - in 1989 and 1994 - he was elected unanimously.

The Tunisian leader was forced, after a wave of demonstrations

When multi-party presidential elections in 1999 introduced, they were still one-sided Affairs, with Ben Ali's big win majorities.

The Constitution has been amended twice, so that he could continue to serve.

He won his five-year term of office in the year 2009, with its share of the vote 90% to fall just below.

Under Ben Ali's rule, Tunisia saw steady Economic Growth .

It was praised for a progressive stance for women's rights and for economic reforms. Tunisia's beaches were a top destination for European tourists.

But unemployment is a growing population of Young People has remained high, and large parts of the Tunisian interior arm.

In the style of many Arab rulers, Ben Ali, the face became a constant presence in Tunisia, with giant posters of The President visible in public spaces across the country

the Political protest was not tolerated and Human Rights groups have accused Ben Ali's regime of unfairly arresting and mistreating political dissidents.

Under The Surface there was resentment against the perceived corruption surrounding the ruling elite, some of whom are in the US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks in late 2010.

Ben Ali was married twice with six children. His second wife, Leila Trabelsi, played a prominent role in Tunisian public life and helped to allegedly collect huge economic holdings for her extended family.

without an obvious rival of Ben Ali, there was speculation that he was looking to pass on power to one of his relatives.

In the last days of 2010, a series of protests began in the middle of the country after a young graduate set himself On Fire when stopped from selling fruit and vegetables without a license.

The protests, advertised, disseminated through social networks, to spread gradually.

Ben Ali, first of all, the debt of the demonstrations on a fringe group of "extremists". But, he changed tack on the 13. January, with an expression of deep remorse for the death of protesters, pledging to introduce media freedoms, promising not 2014.

But the offer of concessions failed to suppress the unrest, and The Following day, after the masses took to The Streets of Tunis and clashed with security forces again, he fled the country for Saudi Arabia , where he died on 19 September 2019.

Ben Ali's death comes just a few days, since he had been expelled.

He brought me to the death, In July , the first democratically elected President, Beji Caid Essebsi, who took office in the year 2014.

tunisia

Source of news: bbc.com