| Socialist Destourian Party/Constitutional Socialist Party | |
| Arabic Name: | حزب الاشتراكي الدستوري |
| French Name: | Parti socialiste destourien |
| Former Leaders Title: | presidents |
| Former Leaders: | Habib Bourguiba (1964–1987) Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987–1988) |
| Predecessor: | Neo Destour |
| Successor: | Democratic Constitutional Rally |
| Newspaper: | L'Action Tunisienne |
| Ideology: | Tunisian nationalism Secularism Authoritarianism Bourguibism 1964-1969: Socialism |
| Position: | Centre-left 1964-1969 Left-wing |
| International: | Socialist International |
The Socialist Destourian Party (Arabic: الحزب الاشتراكي الدستوري ; French: Parti socialiste destourien) was the ruling political party of Tunisia from 1964 to 1988. Bahi Ladgham was the first Prime Minister from the party and Hédi Baccouche was the last. It was founded on 22 October 1964 and disbanded on 27 February 1988. Habib Bourgiba was the first president of the Socialist Destourian Party from 1964 to 1987. He was succeeded by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from 1987 to 1988.
The Independence of Tunisia from France was negotiated largely by the Neo Destour's Bourguiba. The effective date was March 20, 1956. The next year the Republic of Tunisia was constituted, which replaced the Beylical form of government. Tunisia became a one-party state, with Neo Destour as the ruling party under Prime Minister and later President Habib Bourguiba.[1] Later the Neo Destour party was renamed the Socialist Destourian Party in 1964, to signal the government's commitment to a socialist phase of political-economic development. This phase failed to fulfill expectations, however, and was discontinued in 1969 with the dismissal of Ahmad ben Salah as economics minister by President Bourguiba. During its existence between 1964 and 1988, the Constitutional Socialist Party witnessed several shocks, the first of which resulted from its abandonment of the socialist experiment in the fall of 1969 without abandoning its name at that time..[2] [3] [4]
The party was dissolved by President Ben Ali in 1988 and replaced by the Democratic Constitutional Rally.[5]
| Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Habib Bourguiba | 100% | Elected | |
| 1969 | 100% | Elected | ||
| 1974 | 100% | Elected |
| Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Habib Bourguiba | 1,255,153 | 100% | 101 | 1st | ||
| 1969 | 1,363,939 | 100% | 1st | ||||
| 1974 | 1,570,954 | 100% | 11 | 1st | |||
| 1979 | 1,560,753 | 100% | 9 | 1st | |||
| 1981 | 1,828,363 | 94.2% | 15 | 1st | |||
| 1986 | 11 | 1st | |||||