Journey

At a glance

• 1950 — Born in Tunis.
• 1973 · 1976 — Engineer from the École Centrale Paris, then a graduate of the École nationale d’administration.
• 1994–2011 — Minister: Transport, Trade, Tourism, Public Health.
• 2010 — President of the 63rd World Health Assembly, in Geneva.
• 2025 — The “Wajibna” platform, dated 30 June 2025.

An engineer and administrator by training

Mondher Zenaidi was born in Tunis on 24 October 1950, the son of Abdelaziz Zenaidi, one of the first engineers of independent Tunisia. He completed his secondary education at the Collège Sadiki in Tunis before continuing his higher education in France.

In 1973 he graduated as an engineer from École Centrale Paris. He then entered the École nationale d’administration in Paris, graduating in 1976. This dual training, technical and administrative, has shaped his entire career.

Serving the administration and public enterprises

Back in Tunis in 1976, he joined the office of the Minister of the National Economy as a policy adviser. From 1978 to 1981 he was Deputy Director General of the Tunisian National Tourism Office, and from 1981 to 1983 he headed the private office of the Minister of the National Economy.

In 1983 he became Chairman and Chief Executive of the Tunisian Trade Office.

In parallel, he chaired the Espérance Sportive de Tunis from 1986 to 1987.

From government to Parliament

In 1987 he joined the government as Secretary of State to the Minister of the National Economy, in charge of Industry.

From 1989 he represented the Kasserine constituency in the Chamber of Deputies, and from 1991 to 1994 he was Vice-President of the Chamber.

Ministerial responsibilities (1994–2011)

In 1994 he was appointed Minister of Transport, his first ministerial portfolio, which he held until 1996. He then served as Minister of Trade from 1996 to 2001.

In 2001 he took charge of the Ministry of Tourism, Leisure and Handicrafts. From 2002 to 2004 he led a combined ministry of Tourism, Trade and Handicrafts; in that capacity, in October 2003 in Sousse, he attended the signing of the partnership agreement between Sotoparc and France’s Puy du Fou to create a leisure park. He then concentrated on Trade, and from 2005 to 2007 on Trade and Handicrafts.

On 3 September 2007 he was appointed Minister of Public Health, a post he held until January 2011.

An international responsibility: the World Health Assembly

In May 2010, in Geneva, he presided over the 63rd World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, which brings together its Member States. Closing the session, he said that “our decisions should also be translated on the ground”, which “will require a share of patience on our part, and perseverance” from Member States and partners.

After 2011

After the events of January 2011, he left Tunisia in March 2011 and settled in Paris. He returned to Tunis on 14 September 2014.

On 22 September 2014 he filed an independent bid in the 2014 presidential election. Ten years later, on 4 July 2024, he announced a presidential bid; although the Administrative Court twice ordered his reinstatement, he did not appear on the final list for the 6 October 2024 ballot.

Duty as a common thread

The idea of “duty” runs through his public statements. In June 2016 he called for a “government of national duty” focused on urgent matters rather than postponed ones. In February 2019 he stated publicly that he was holding consultations with political figures and families of different persuasions. On 29 February 2024 he issued a statement calling, in the name of “national duty”, for responsibility and an end to divisions.

On 7 February 2025 he launched the “Society of Duty” project under the motto “Wajibna – Our Duty”. On 31 August 2025 he made public the policy platform of the “Wajibna” rescue and reform project, a working document dated 30 June 2025 and prepared with the contribution of many Tunisian experts. The text argues for reviving a “Tunisian model” of governance and development, rejects imported solutions, and makes sovereignty — territorial, legal, political, financial and intellectual — a guiding principle.

A career in the service of the State

From the Tunisian Trade Office to the Ministry of Public Health, from Parliament to the World Health Assembly, Mondher Zenaidi’s career has been built essentially within the State and its public institutions. An engineer and administrator by training, he advocates a conception of public action grounded in the continuity of the State, competence, and bringing Tunisians together.

Mondher Zenaidi is married and has two children.

The dates in this biography are drawn from public sources (World Health Organization, Tunisian and international press, encyclopaedias). Several dates are being checked against official records.