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Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, the country's first nationally elected leader, died on Thursday at the age of 92, causing political uncertainty ahead of the planned elections.
The veteran politician, the oldest chief of state after Queen Elizabeth II, came to power in 2014, three years after the uprising of the Arab Spring, which toppled the long-time despot, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali , and triggered revolts in several Arab countries.
His death marks the beginning of a period of political transition in the North African nation, hailed as a rare example of a successful Arab Spring.
Essebsi, who had already decided not to run again, was hospitalized for a serious illness at the end of June and returned to intensive care on Thursday. The media announced that he would be buried on Saturday.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, a former colonial power, praised his dead counterpart as "a friend" of France and "a brave leader".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Essebsi "a courageous actor on the road to democracy" and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also sent his condolences for the death of a "man of State" A great … humanity ".
The Tunisian parliament announced that its president, Mohamed Ennaceur, would badume the functions of interim president. A few hours later, he was sworn in as the new leader.
Ennighter, who called on Tunisians to show "solidarity", now has 90 days to hold a presidential election, said the chairman of the electoral commission Nabil Baffoun to AFP.
This means that the vote, previously set for November 17, must take place before October 23.
"The state will continue to function," Ennaceur told state television. The 85-year-old has also had a recent health crisis, which has raised concerns about his suitability for a job.
Jihadist attacks
Cradle of the revolts of the Arab Spring, Tunisia is the only country affected by the uprisings to have pushed through democratic reforms, despite political unrest, a sluggish economy and jihadist attacks.
Islamist extremists have staged deadly attacks several times since the overthrow of Ben Ali, raising fears for the country's fragile democracy and strangling its tourism industry.
In March 2015, gunmen killed 21 tourists and a policeman at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.
In June of the same year, 30 Britons were among 38 foreign tourists killed in a grenade and grenade attack against a seaside resort near the Tunisian city of Sousse.
In November 2015, a suicide bomber bombing a bus in the capital, carrying presidential guards, killed 12 people. The three attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and triggered a state of emergency that remains in place.
A veteran politician, Essebsi served as an adviser to Habib Bourguiba, the father of Tunisia's independence from France, occupying several key positions under him, and then under Ben Ali.
Over the years, Essebsi has been Director General of the National Police and Minister of the Interior. He then held the defense portfolio before becoming ambbadador to France and Germany.
Essebsi is the founder and president of the secular party Nidaa Tounes (Call of Tunis).
Nidaa Tounes won the elections in 2014 and formed a coalition with Islamist-inspired Ennahdha, which lasted four years before the split of the party.
But Essebsi's party struggled to overcome the bitter internal divisions between Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and Essebsi's son, Hafedh, which led the prime minister to be removed from Nidaa Tounes and to to form his own rival party, Tahia Tounes.
The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, offered his condolences for the loss of a leader who "was dedicated to the construction of a modern state".
Essebsi's death comes amid a debate about who will be able to stand in the upcoming presidential elections.
Essebsi neither rejected nor promulgated an amended electoral code, pbaded by parliament in June, which would ban several strong candidates, including media magnate Nabil Karoui.
Karoui, who has formed a political party, was charged with money laundering this month after declaring his intention to run for office.
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