The World - News from March 10, 1988

The Tunisian National Assembly has approved unanimously a new constitution that will do away with the concept of “president for life.� The new constitution, approved on its first reading, will take effect after its approval by two-thirds of the National Assembly. The vote is expected later this year. Former President-for-Life Habib Bourguiba, who ruled the North African nation without interruption for more than 30 years after the end of French colonial rule in 1956, was ousted in November by his premier, Zine Abidine ben Ali, in a bloodless coup.