This archive report was first published on 25 July 2019.
On July 24, 2019, Tunisia's 92-year-old President Beji Caid Essebsi was taken to a military hospital, according to his son Hafedh Caid Essebsi.
This marked the second health crisis for the president in a month, following a severe health crisis in late June 2019.
Essebsi, a key figure in Tunisia's transition to democracy since 2011, had been hospitalized for a week after suffering a severe health crisis on June 26, 2019.
However, since leaving the hospital on July 1, 2019, the president has only appeared twice.
Essebsi has been a prominent figure in Tunisia since the overthrow of veteran autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, which sparked uprisings against authoritarian leaders across the Middle East.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on October 6, 2019, with a presidential vote following on November 17, 2019.
