Kaïs Saïed (born 22 February 1958) is the President of Tunisia, in office since October 2019. A constitutional law jurist and longtime academic, he rose from the lecture hall into national politics as an independent, anti-establishment candidate, pitching himself as a clean-hands reformer against corruption and a broken political class. He won the 2019 election by a landslide, defeating media mogul Nabil Karoui in the runoff. His presidency has become the defining fault line in Tunisia’s post-2011 trajectory. In July 2021, Saïed froze/suspended parliament and began ruling by decree—moves supporters framed as a necessary “correction,” while opponents and many rights groups called it a constitutional rupture. In 2022, he pushed through a new constitution approved in a referendum with low turnout, significantly expanding presidential authority and weakening checks and balances. Since then, Tunisia has seen a deepening crackdown on opposition figures and civil society, with mass arrests and heavy prison sentences reported in late 2025.