Immediately following independence, the role of head of state was filled by a five-member Sovereignty Council, with rival nationalist factions unable to agree on a single candidate.

In November 1958, General Ibrahim Abboud led a military coup d'état, assuming the role of head of state as Chairman of the Supreme Council.

Abboud was succeeded by a senior civil servant, Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa, who served as acting president for 18 days before transferring executive authority to a Committee of Sovereignty.

Ismail al-Azhari, the leader of the National Unionist Party, was made president in July 1965; he ruled with limited power until he was deposed in a 1969 military coup.

The Sovereignty Council, an 11-member civilian-military collective head of state, is designed to lead the country for 39 months in the transition to democracy, which is supposed to end with the next general election.