Every year on November 7, the Republic of Tunisia celebrates the public holiday — New Era Day or Renewal Day.
Many Tunisians remember how on Saturday, November 7, 1987, at 6:30 a.m., the radio unexpectedly interrupted the concert of the popular Lebanese singer Feyrouz and reported that 84-year-old lifelong head of state Habib Bourguiba had been removed from his post, which «father of the nation» has occupied since the proclamation of the republic in 1957.
The operation to remove Bourguiba was carried out without firing a shot by a group of prominent government officials led by Prime Minister Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. He also read out his address to the nation, notifying his compatriots that this decision was made in accordance with Article 57 of the Constitution and on the basis of a medical report on the state of health of the elderly President.
Thus ended the era of Habib Bourguiba, who liked to repeat that a man like him would not be easy to replace. The era of Ben Ali began in Tunisia, lasting almost a quarter of a century.
In connection with this political coup, on November 7, the Republic celebrates the national holiday — New Era Day or Renewal Day.