Tunisia’s electoral commission, the Independent High Authority for Elections (IHAE) approved 26 presidential candidates for the general election scheduled for 15 September 2019.
The election follows the death Beji Caid Essebsi, the first president to be democratically elected in Tunisia after the popular uprising of 2011.
IHAE head Nabil Baffoun said they rejected 71 presidential hopefuls; 51 on the grounds of lack of sponsorships and deposit guarantees and 14 for the lack of endorsements.
The 26 presidential candidates consist of 24 men & two women as highlighted below
| Name | DOB | Gender | Political Party | Most known for | Highest Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youssef Chahed | 18 September 1975 | M | Long Live Tunisia | Current Prime Minister | PhD in Agricultural Economics |
| Mehdi Jomaa | 21 April 1962 | M | Tunisia Alternatives | Former Prime Minister | Engineering degree |
| Abdelfattah Mourou | 1 June 1948 | M | Ennahda Movement | First VP of parliament | Law degree |
| Abdelkarim Zbidi | 25 June 1950 | M | Independent | Defence Minister | PhD in Medicine |
| Mohamed Moncef Marzouki | 7 July 1945 | M | Congress for the Republic | Former President | Medical degree |
| Nabil Karoui | 1 August 1963 | M | Heart of Tunisia | Owner of the private TV channel Nessma TV | |
| Selma Elloumi Rekik | 5 June 1956 | F | Nidaa Tounes | Former Tourism Minister | |
| Abir Moussi | 15 March 1975 | F | Free Destiny Party | VP of the Ariana Municipality | Masters in Law |
| Mongi Rahoui | 13 June 1964 | M | The Unified Party of Democratic Patriots | MP | Masters in Financial Engineering |
| Mohamed Abbou | 10 May 1966 | M | Democratic Current | Adviser to the Prime Minister | Masters in Law |
| Lotfi Mraihi | 16 November 1959 | M | Union Populaire Républicaine party (UPR) | Music Creation Support Association (ASCM) | Medical degree |
| Hamadi Jebali | 12 January 1949 | M | Nidaa Tounes | Former Prime Minister | Masters in Photovoltaic Engineering |
| Hamma Hammami | 8 January 1952 | M | Popular Front | Spokesman of the Tunisian Workers’ Party | |
| Mohsen Marzouk | July 1965 | M | Machrouu Tounes | Secretary-general of the ngo Arab Democracy Foundation | Degree in political sociology |
| Mohamed Seghaïer Nouri | M | Owned of Al Mustakillah TV | |||
| Mohamed Hechmi Hamdi | M | Current of Love | PhD in Islamic studies | ||
| Omar Mansour | 27 January 1958 | M | Former Minister of Justice | Law degree | |
| Kaïs Saïed | 22 February 1958 | M | Independent | Secretary-General of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law | PhD in Law |
| Elyes Fakhfakh | 1972 | M | Former Tourism Minister | Engineering degree | |
| Slim Riahi | 13 July 1972 | M | Free Patriotic Union (UPL) | Businessman | Business management degree |
| Saïd Aïdi | 8 May 1961 | M | Bani Watani | Former Minister of Vocational Training and Employment | Diploma |
| Safi Saïd | 22 September 1953 | M | 2014 presidential candidate | ||
| Néji Jalloul | 17 October 1957 | M | Former Minister of Education | PhD in Archaeology | |
| Abid Briki | 20 June 1957 | M | Tunisia Forward | Former Minister of Public Service | |
| Hatem Boulabiar | M | ||||
| Seifeddine Makhlouf | M |
