The Tunisia Timeline

  • Tunisia

    After several weeks of turmoil, tunisian ruler Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia for Jeddah,Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced that he would assume the position of interim president under chapter 56 of their constitution.
  • Tunisia

    Tunisisa's highest legal athourity on constitutional issues, the constitutional court rules that Fouad Mabazza should be the new intreim president instead of Mohommed Gahannouchi. Mabazza taksed Ghannouchi with forming a coilation government.
  • Tunisia

    Prime Minister Ghannouchi promised to announce a colilation government. A new "unity" government was announced but includes Ben Ali loyalists in key posts. Including the defense,interior, and foreign ministers. and several opposition members in lesser positions.
  • Tunisia

    Unhappy with the new goverment, Tunisians took to the streets to protest. Mebazaa and Ghannouchi resigned from Ben Ali's party, Consituitonal Democratic Rally (RCD) in a bid to calm the protesters. That same day Marcef Manzouki, the leader of the banned Congress for the Republic party returned to Tunisia after living in exile in Paris.
  • Tunisia

    All ministers in the interem government quit the RCD party but remain in their original cabinet posts. The centeral committee of RCD was dissolved, because many of the ministers were also committee members.
  • Tunisia

    Clashes broke out near government offices in Tunis, where riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of people
  • Tunisia

    Tunisia's foreign minister, Kamel Morjane, announced his resignation.The prime minister also announced a reshuffle of the cabinet, dropping ministers who wre members of Ben Ali's gevernment.
  • Tunisia

    Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the banned Islamist party Ennahdha, returns to Tunisia after 22 years of exile
  • Tunisia

    Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned as prime minister, 84-year-old Benji Caid-Essebsi was named as his replacement.
  • Tunisia

    The RCD was dissolved
  • Tunisia

    The Senior members of RCD who had been active in the past 10 years were banned from participating in the elections for the constituent assembly , a body tasked with rewriting the constitution and appointing a new government.
  • Tunisia

    Thirteen people were chosen to serve on the Tunisian Higher Election Athourity (ISIE), a group overseeing the constituent assembly election.
  • Tunisia

    Four secular parties form the Democratic Modernist Coalition (PDM)
  • Tunisia

    Ben Ali and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prision for unlawful possession of jewllery and cash, and theft.
  • Tunisia

    Voter registration for the constituent assembly election begain. The regestration was orginaly going to last for three weeks, but eventually extended to August 14th.
  • Tunisia

    The elections for the constituent assembly were schedualed for this date., however the date was rescheduled for Oct 23.
  • Tunisia

    Kamel Jendoubi, the president of the Tunisian Higher Election Athourity, announced that the voter process would be extended from August 2nd until August 14th so that more voters would be able to register. This fsr just 1.76 million of 7.5 million voters had registered.
  • Tunisia

    Voter registration ended. The Carter Center states that, according to the ISIE 3,882,727 Tunisians registered to vote.
  • Tunisia

    The registrations for political parties and independent place canidate in the October 23 constituent assembly election
  • tunisia

    The registration for political parties independent ends. There were 81 parties and hundreds of independents ready to run for the assembly election
  • tunisia

    The ISIE doesn't allow for political advertising after this date, but two parties continue, the PDP and the UPL.
  • tunisia

    twelve Tunisian parties sign the Declaration of the Transitional Process. That means that the parties would respect the ISIE for ethical code for the election.
  • Tunisia

    Campaining begain for the constituent assembly election, held on Oct 23rd
  • Tunisia

    Campaining ended for the constituent assembly election, Voting for tunisians living overseas begain on this day and would end on Oct 22nd.
  • Tunisia

    About 4.4 million registered Tunisians headed to polls to begin voting in this historic election.