Republic Day

Republic Day in Tunisia commemorates July 25, 1957, when the National Constituent Assembly abolished the Husainid monarchy and proclaimed the Republic. The Assembly appointed Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba head of state pending a constitution, making the date distinct from independence on March 20, 1956, when Tunisia had remained a kingdom under Lamine Bey.

July 25 has acquired additional constitutional meanings. Tunisia adopted a new constitution by referendum on July 25, 2022 after the exceptional measures begun on the same date in 2021; the text strengthened the presidency relative to the 2014 constitutional design. Public opinion about those changes is divided, so the guide records the institutional sequence without treating an official narrative as unanimous consent.

The decree grants one public-sector leave day every July 25. Presidential Decree No. 2021-223 grants holiday leave to personnel of the State, local authorities and administrative public institutions; its wording is not a blanket rule for every private workplace. Labour Code articles 107-110 provide that paid non-working holidays in private employment are fixed by decree or collective agreements, protect covered pay and add an equal indemnity where an employee in a non-stoppable activity works the holiday. Employees must therefore check the rule or collective agreement governing their sector. Neither cited text creates a general next-working-day substitute when a holiday falls on Saturday or Sunday.