On 7 November 1987, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who had been named Prime Minister only a month earlier, became president after Bourguiba was declared medically unfit for office.

[6] Ben Ali did not face an opponent for reelection until 1999, in part because of a longstanding requirement that potential presidential candidates receive the endorsement of 30 political figures.

Given the RCD's near-absolute dominance of the political scene, prospective opposition candidates discovered they could not get their nomination papers signed.

[10] In order to placate protesters and designated coalition participants, the incumbent president and prime minister resigned from their memberships in the RCD on 18 January[11] and all remaining RCD-aligned ministers resigned their party memberships on 20 January,[12] the effect of which left the RCD with only a parliamentary majority.

[clarification needed] On 27 January, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi carried out a major reshuffle, removing all former RCD members other than himself from the government.