Tunisia president Beji Caid Essebsi 92, has made his first public appearance since leaving hospital following a serious illness.

Video from the president';s office showed Essebsi signing a decree on Friday, authorizing elections in October and November and making a brief address, four days after being discharged from a military hospital.

In a statement later, his office said the president also prolonged the North African nation';s ongoing state of emergency for one more month.

Essebsi won office in 2014, in the wake of the country';s 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

He recently announced he wouldn';t run in the November election, saying a younger person should lead the country.

In this photo provided by the Tunisian presidency, 92-year-old Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi signs a decree in Tunis, Friday, July 5, 2019.