Rachid Sfar

{{Short description|Tunisian politician (1933-1923)}}

{{sources|date=July 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Rachid Sfar

| image = RACHID_SFAR_ancien_Premier_Ministre_Tunisien.jpg

| caption = Sfar in 1988

| order = Prime Minister of Tunisia

| president = Habib Bourguiba

| term_start = 8 July 1986

| term_end = 2 October 1987

| predecessor = Mohammed Mzali

| successor = Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

| order1 = Minister of Finance

| president1 = Habib Bourguiba

| primeminister1 = Mohamed Mzali

| constituency1 =

| term_start1 = 28 April 1986

| term_end1 = 8 July 1986

| predecessor1 = Salah Ben M'barka

| successor1 = Ismail Khelil

| order2 = Minister of Defence

| president2 = Habib Bourguiba

| primeminister2 = Hédi Nouira

| constituency2 =

| term_start2 = 12 September 1979

| term_end2 = 24 April 1980

| predecessor2 = Abdallah Farhat

| successor2 = Slaheddine Baly

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|09|11|df=y}}

| birth_place = Mahdia, French Tunisia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|07|20|1933|09|11|df=y}}

| death_place = Mahdia, Tunisia

| party = Socialist Destourian Party (1964–1988)
Democratic Constitutional Rally (1988–2011)

| father = Tahar Sfar

| mother = Salha Sfar

| native_name_lang = ar

| native_name = {{nobold|رشيد صفر}}

}}

Rachid Sfar ({{langx|ar|رشيد صفر}}; 11 September 1933 – 20 July 2023) was a Tunisian politician who served as prime minister under the presidency of Habib Bourguiba.{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24848170.html?dids=24848170:24848170&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+03%2C+1987&author=Chicago+Tribune+wires&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=PREMIER+OF+TUNISIA+REPLACED&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604050518/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24848170.html?dids=24848170:24848170&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+03,+1987&author=Chicago+Tribune+wires&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=PREMIER+OF+TUNISIA+REPLACED&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2011|title=Premier of Tunisia Replaced|date=3 October 1987|publisher=Chicago Tribune|accessdate=21 January 2010}}

Early life

Sfar was born in Mahdia, the ancient Fatimite capital of Tunisia. He was the son of the Destourian leader Tahar Sfar, an associate of Bourguiba and co-founder of the Neo-Destourian Tunisian Nationalist Party in 1934. Sfar's ancestors were among the first people of Turkish origin to arrive in Tunisia during the Ottoman rule, they had arrived from Anatolia and Macedonia.{{cite web |author=Rachid Sfar|title=Le Leaders Tahar Sfar Co-Fondateur Avec Bourguiba Du Parti Tunisien Neo-Destour Fut De 1925 à 1928 Un Etudiant Exceptionnel|date=3 February 2014 |url=http://rachid-sfar.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/le-leaders-tahar-sfar-co-fondateur-avec.html|accessdate=7 June 2014}}

After completing his secondary studies at the lycée in the city of Sfax, Rachid Sfar pursued advanced studies in humanities, law, and economics in Tunis and in Paris. In Paris, he studied at the Ecole Nationale des Impôts from 1958 to 1959.

Political career

In the newly independent Tunisia, Sfar assumed various administrative responsibilities, notably in the Ministry of Finances: Director general of Taxation, Director General of Economic and Financial Relations, Director General for the Control of Tobacconists, and Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance. In December 1977, Bourguiba called upon him to direct the Ministry of Industry of Mines and the Ministry of Energy. In 1980, he was director of the Ministry of Defense, in 1982 the Ministry of Public Health, and from 1984 to 1986 the Ministry for the Economy.

In July 1986, before the deterioration of the financial situation in the country, President Bourguiba discharged his Prime Minister Mohamed Mzali and tasked Sfar with implementing a structural adjustment plan as Prime Minister. Sfar re-established Tunisia's macro-economic equilibria by passing in the National Assembly the "Loi de finances complémentaire" (the supplemental finances law), by devaluing the dinar by 10%, and by obtaining support from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to rebuild currency reserves and re-establish credit.

President Habib Bourguiba fired Sfar on 3 October 1987. Bourguiba named his Interior Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as Sfar's replacement. On 7 November 1987, invoking a provision of the Tunisian Constitution, the aged and infirm President Habib Bourguiba was declared incapable of executing the duties of his office. He was succeeded by his Prime Minister Ben Ali, who took the oath of office the same day before an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly.

Death

Rachid Sfar died on 20 July 2023, at the age of 89.{{cite news |title=Obsèques de Rachid Sfar à Mahdia : Un dernier adieu à un ancien Premier ministre de Bourguiba |url=https://www.webmanagercenter.com/2023/07/21/511482/obseques-de-rachid-sfar-a-mahdia-un-dernier-adieu-a-un-ancien-premier-ministre-de-bourguiba/ |access-date=21 July 2023 |publisher=Webmanagercenter |date=21 July 2023}}

References

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