Mehdi Jomaa

Mehdi Jomaa (Arabic: مهدي جمعة‎; 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]

Mehdi Jomaa مهدي جمعة
Jomaa in 2013
12th Prime Minister of Tunisia
In office 29 January 2014 – 6 February 2015
President	Moncef Marzouki
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	21 April 1962 Mahdia, Tunisia
Political party	Tunisian Alternative (after 2017)
Alma mater	Tunis El Manar University

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 Habib Essid became Prime Minister 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] A year later, in March 2017, he converted Tunisia Alternatives into a political party.[12]

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. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
4. "Tunisia Industry Minister Mehdi Jomaa to be new PM". BBC News. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
5. "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. "Qui est Mehdi Jomaâ, nouveau ministre de l'Industrie" (in French). Leaders. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
8. Ben Bouazza, Bouazza (14 December 2013). "Tunisia Chooses New PM to Replace Islamist Gov't". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
9. "Mehdi Jomaa, nouveau chef du gouvernement tunisien" (in French). FRANCE 24. 15 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. 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. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
12. Frida Dahmani, "Tunisie : Mehdi Jomâa lance son parti politique", Jeune Afrique, 29 March 2017 (in French).

External links