Mehdi Jomaa

Mehdi Jomaa
Prime Minister of Tunisia
In office
29 January 2014  6 February 2015
President Moncef Marzouki
Beji Caid Essebsi
Preceded by Ali Laarayedh
Succeeded by Habib Essid
Minister of Industry
In office
14 March 2013  29 January 2014
Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh
Preceded by Mohamed Lamine Chakhari
Succeeded by Kamel Ben Naceur
Personal details
Born (1962-03-21) 21 March 1962
Mahdia, Tunisia
Political party Independent
Alma mater Tunis El Manar University
Religion Islam

Mehdi Jomaa (born 21 April 1962) is a Tunisian engineer and was the acting Prime Minister of Tunisia from 29 January 2014[1] to 6 February 2015.[2] He was chosen on 14 December 2013.[3] Jomaa was Minister of Industry in the Ali Laarayedh government.[4]

Early life

He was born on 21 April 1962 in Mahdia, Tunisia. He graduated from the National Engineering School, Tunis in 1998.[5] He is an engineer by profession. He also holds a postgraduate degree in structural mechanics and in modeling.[5] He spent most of his career at Hutchinson and at Total.[5] He is married and has five children.[6] He was a general manager at Hutchinson Aerospace when he quit his job.[7]

Political life

After Hamadi Jebali asked him to be part of his government, he quit his professional career[8] to contribute to the country's transition into democracy[7] after the crackdown of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali government in the 2011 uprising. He did not belong to any political party; he was an Independent. On 13 March 2013, he became Minister of Industry in a coalition government led by Ennahda after Ali Laarayedh appealed him to be part of his government.[9] After the assassination of Mohamed Brahmi in July, there had been a political deadlock.[10] To ease the situation, parties entered a national dialogue which was held for weeks; on 14 December 2013, both ruling and opposition parties agreed to choose Jomaa as the interim Prime Minister until the next election.[4] His government was technocratic.[8] The leftist Popular Front coalition doubted whether he could handle the present situation.[8] His caretaker government carried out the process for new elections and attempted to deal with the economic issues.[8]

After Prime Minister Habib Essid took office in February 2015, Mehdi Jomaa spent a year away from political life until in early February 2016 he announced the formation of a think-tank and political program dubbed Tunisia Alternatives'.[11]

References

  1. "Tunisia’s new government of independents sworn in". Daily News Egypt. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  2. "Tunisia's secularists and Islamists form new government". BBC News. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  3. "Mehdi Jomaa Chosen to Become New Prime Minister". Tunisia Live. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Tunisia Industry Minister Mehdi Jomaa to be new PM". BBC News. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "Mehdi Jomaa". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  6. "Tunisia's PM-designate is a little-known newcomer". Daily News Egypt. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Qui est Mehdi Jomaâ, nouveau ministre de l'Industrie" (in French). Leaders. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Ben Bouazza, Bouazza (14 December 2013). "Tunisia Chooses New PM to Replace Islamist Gov't". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  9. "Mehdi Jomaa, nouveau chef du gouvernement tunisien" (in French). FRANCE 24. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  10. "Parties Agree on Leader Ahead of Vote in Tunisia". The New York Times. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  11. "Mehdi Jomaa's Comeback: 'Tunisia Alternatives'". Tunisia-tn. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
Political offices
Preceded by
Ali Laarayedh
Prime Minister of Tunisia
2014–2015
Succeeded by
Habib Essid
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