From the same school he obtained his doctorate in the field of contemporary Islamic studies in 1996 from SOAS, University of London.

[1] After contributing articles to different newspapers and journals, including the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat, he founded his own weekly Al-Mustakilla ("The Independent") in 1993, the quarterly magazine "The Diplomat" in 1996, Al Mustakillah satellite TV channel in 1999, and a second TV channel, called "Democracy", in 2005.

[3] Later, he was alleged, but denied, to have developed close ties to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali[4] and his party, RCD.

[5] In March 2011, after the Tunisian revolution, he founded the Popular Petition for Freedom, Justice and Development (Aridha Chaabia), which he promoted from his Al-Mustakilla TV channel[6] and announced his candidature for the presidential elections.

On 4 February 2012 Hechmi Hamdi was elected secretary general of the Party of Progressive Conservatives (PPC), which is closely linked to the Popular Petition movement.