10 Dinars 2002 Coup d'état 15th Anniversary, Arabic legend

The "coup d'état" designation here is official Tunisian government language — the state openly called Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's removal of Habib Bourguiba on November 7, 1987 a coup, then rebranded it as a "medical coup" or "Change" as the years passed and the need for legitimacy grew. Bourguiba, increasingly erratic and rumored to be planning mass executions of Islamist detainees, was declared medically unfit by a team of physicians Ben Ali had convened that same night.

By 2002, Ben Ali was consolidating rather than celebrating — a constitutional referendum that year removed presidential term limits entirely.