Tunisia’s Essebsi, world’s oldest president, dies at 92

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, the North African country’s first leader elected in nationwide polls, died yesterday at the age of 92, his office said. The veteran politician, the oldest head of state after Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, came to power in 2014. He had been hospitalised with a severe illness in late June and was returned to intensive care yesterday.

“Things are not going well,” the leader’s son Hafedh Caid Essebsi said earlier yesterday after he was readmitted. German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday called Essebsi “a courageous actor on the road to democracy”.  Concerned over a potential power vacuum ahead of November polls, politicians and social media users had called for greater transparency about the president’s health since he was hospitalised last month.

Tunisia’s constitution, adopted in 2014, provides two measures in the case of a power vacuum. The prime minister can take over the president’s responsibilities for a period of no more than 60 days.  If the vacancy is longer, the speaker of parliament is tasked with the role for up to 90 days.

In both cases, the decision must be taken by a constitutional court after it validates the president’s incapacity. But eight years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia has yet to set up a constitutional court.