After Tunisia obtained independence from France in the spring of 1956, Habib Bourguiba became Prime Minister and President when Tunisia declared itself a republic in 1957. He ruled for 30 years until November 1987, when doctors judged him unfit to rule and, in a bloodless coup, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took power.
Tunisians initiated huge protests in December 2010 against unemployment and Ben Ali's corruption as part of the Arab Spring. The protests became known as the Tunisian Revolution or Jasmine Revolution.
Following nearly a month of protests, Ben Ali proclaimed a statewide state of emergency and dissolved the government on January 14, 2011, promising new elections in six months. However, that was not to be the case, as Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state television later that day to announce his assumption of power in Tunisia and that the President had fled the country.
Beli Ali died in Saudi Arabia in September 2019.
Sidi Bouzid received a visit from President Kais Saied in 2019. The protests began on December 17, 2010, when a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in protest against police harassment. During the visit, the President declared December 17 a national holiday to commemorate the start of the rebellion.
The presidential decree establishing December 17 as a public holiday instead of January 14 was published in the Official Gazette of the Tunisian Republic (JORT) on Monday, December 17, 2021.
The Presidency of the Republic announced in a statement that President Kais Saied has decided to make December 17 a holiday instead of January 14 to commemorate the Revolution's anniversary.
Tunisia passed a presidential decree amending the decree controlling holidays.
