The office holder was known as the Minister Resident of France in Tunisia until June 23, 1885 and after September 1, 1955 they were replaced by a High Commissioner.
The position of Minister-Resident General of France in Tunisia stems from the Treaty of Bardo signed on May 12, 1881, article 5 of which stated that "the government of the French Republic will be represented, with His Highness the Bey of Tunis, by a Minister-Resident General who will ensure the execution of this act and who will be the intermediary for the relations of the French government with the Tunisian authorities for all common affairs of the two countries".
Furthermore, article 6 of the same treaty specified that "His Highness the Bey undertakes not to conclude any act of an international nature without having informed the French government of it and without its prior agreement ".
[5] Faced with this opposition, Cambon requested the support of the French government and clarification about his mission.
It was not until 1951 that the presidency of the council of ministers was entrusted to the grand vizier Mohamed Chenik instead of the Resident General, who nevertheless retained the power to veto the decrees of the Tunisian government.