President of Tunisia may in exceptional circumstances put certain draft laws to a referendum. Article 87 specifies that the president enjoys legal immunity while in office. Since the promulgation of a republican constitution in June 1959, three years after gaining independence from France, Tunisia has had just three directly elected presidents. The first president was Habib Bourguiba, who became the country's first president after the proclamation of a republic in 1957; he had been the country's de facto leader as prime minister since independence in 1956. He was formally elected to the post in 1959, and was proclaimed president for life in 1975.
Habib Bourguiba party model. Thus, the leadership was no more elected but chosen by the president among the central committee. At the end of congress, to seize control of the Tunisian General Labour Union (TGLU), unique labor union of the country, the SDP decided to create, in all businesses, its own professional cells to compete with the labor ones. The presidential party, therefore, achieved its predominance over the country. In July 1965, following an accident on a ship connecting Sfax to Kerkennah Islands, the TGLU chairman, Habib Achour was arrested and replaced at the head of the labour union. Since then, the