Hamadi Jebali

Hamadi Jebali (, ; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, politician, and journalist who was prime minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, a moderate Islamic party in Tunisia, until he left his party in December 2014 in the course of the 2014 Tunisian presidential election.

Early life, education and professional life Born in Sousse in 1949, Jebali received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Tunis University and added a masters programme in photovoltaic engineering at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris, France.

Personal life Hamadi Jebali comes from a family of six children: four girls and two boys. including his brother, Ali Jebali, he is a well-known figure in Tunisia, active in professional and public affairs. In 1957, his father, a carpenter in Sousse and a staunch Youssefist, was arrested and imprisoned; he helped his family bring a modest supply basket to his father at Habs Al Mokhtar prison. Moreover, he served as longtime member of the party's executive council and remains secretary-general of Ennahda.

Criminal prosecution and imprisonment In June 1990, Al-Fajr published an article by Rashid al-Ghannushi called "The people of the State or the State of the People?" Jebali was made responsible for the publication and received a suspended sentence and a 1,500 dinars fine for the offences of "encouraging violation of the law" and "calling for insurrection". In November 1990, the Islamist newspaper contained an essay by the lawyer Mohammed Nouri, entitled "When will military courts, serving as special courts, be abolished?" This time, a military court sentenced Hamadi Jebali to one year in prison for "defamation of a judicial institution". Eventually, on 28 August 1992 Hamadi Jebali was sentenced to a prison term of 16 years for "membership in an illegal organisation" and "attempted change of the nature of the state". He also met U.S. Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman.

Ensuing Ennahda's success in the Constituent Assembly election on 23 October 2011, the party nominated him as its candidate for prime minister. Jebali is considered a proponent of the reformist wing of his party. He presented his government on 20 December. He officially took office on 24 December.

On 19 February 2013, he resigned from his office. The move followed his attempt to form a technocratic government following the assassination of Chokri Belaid and ensuing protests against the alleged Islamisation of the country. Ennahda, however, rejected his resignation insisting on a government of politicians and Jebali formally resigned after a meeting with President Moncef Marzouki saying it was in the best interests of the country. He said: "I promised if my initiative did not succeed I would resign as head of the government, and this is what I am doing following my meeting with the president. Today there is a great disappointment among the people and we must regain their trust and this resignation is a first step." Party leader Rachid Ghannouchi then suggested a government of politicians and technocrats, while Jebali suggested that if he was tasked with forming a new government it would have to include non-partisan ministers and a variety of political representation that would lead to a new election. However, the IMF said that it was still in talks for a US$1.78 billion loan to the country.

After urging his party without success to support the interim president Moncef Marzouki in the presidential election of 2014, he left Ennahda on 10 December 2014. In January 2015, he refused to join the new party of the losing presidential candidate Marzouki but did not rule out founding a party of his own.