Ridha Grira ( ar, رضا قريرة; born 21 August 1955) is a Tunisian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

Biography

Academic background

Grira obtained his

baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

from lycée de garçons in Sousse, in June 1974. He then attended

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...

, followed by

École centrale Paris École Centrale Paris (ECP; also known as École Centrale or Centrale) was a French grande école in engineering and science. It was also known by its official name ''École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures''. In 2015, École Centrale Paris mer ...

where he received a MPhil in Chemical Engineering in 1974. He concurrently studied Law, Economics and Management at the

University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and Ecole Nationale d'Administration where he later graduated with honors.

Political career

During his political career, M. Grira held several senior administrative positions at the Prime Ministry of Tunisia. In 1991, he was appointed CEO of the Banque Tuniso-Libyenne. He took on the role of General Secretary of the Government. On January 16, 1992, he was assigned the position of General Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ministry. On April 22, 1999, he was chosen as Minister of State Properties and Land Affairs. On 14 January 2010, he became the Minister of National Defense.

Post-revolution

After the ousting of the Tunisian President

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...

during the revolution of 2011, Ridha Grira was reappointed by Prime Minister

Mohamed Ghannouchi Mohamed Ghannouchi ( ar, محمد الغنوشي ''Muhammad Al-Ghannushi''; born 18 August 1941) is a Tunisian politician who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from 1999 to 2011. Regarded as a technocrat, Ghannouchi was a long-standing figure in the ...

to his position within the « national unity government » formed by Mohamed Ghannouchi. This government was strongly opposed by the people due to its composition of prominent figures of the former regime and the

Constitutional Democratic Rally The Democratic Constitutional Rally or Democratic Constitutional Assembly ( ar, التجمع الدستوري الديمقراطي ', french: Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique, sometimes also called Constitutional Democratic Rally in E ...

. At that time M.Grira was the president of the Manar II (Tunis) unit a position he held since 1994. As a result of the pressure from the protesters M. Grira resigned from

party on January 20. Despite the continuous efforts by the new government, the protesters continued to voice their displeasure with its current members. As a result, M. Grira resigned from the government on January 27, 2011.

Awards and honors

* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic * Grand Cordon of the Order of 7 November

References

1955 births University of Paris alumni Sciences Po alumni Government ministers of Tunisia Living people People of the Tunisian Revolution Defence ministers of Tunisia {{Tunisia-politician-stub