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Modern Tunisia

Tunisia after-Bourguiba:

Declared " unfit", president Bourguiba was relieved of his post on 7 November 1987, and replaced by President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was appointed Prime Minister one month earlier. The PSD was restructured and became the Democratic Constitutional Rassemblement (RCD), committed to renewing the leadership. The Constitution abolished the laws relating to the life presidency of the Republic and selective amnesty was granted. Ben Ali was appointed head of Military Security in 1964, which he directed for ten years. He became the military attache for Morocco and Spain, and moved to Rabat in 1974. He was then made Minister for Defense before occupying the role of General manager of National Safety (December 1977). In April 1980, he became the ambassador to Warsaw.

At the end of his mission in Poland in 1984, he was again appointed, initially General manager, then Secretary of State (October 29, 1984), then Minister for national Safety (October 23, 1985). On April 28, 1986, he became the Minister of Interior Department. In June of the same year, he entered the Political Office of the Socialist Party Destourien (PSD) becoming the associated Secretary-general. Promoted to the rank of interior minister in May 1987, he was elected as Prime Minister on October 2, 1987, at the age of fifty-one, while remaining interior minister. He became Secretary-general of the PSD.

While the entourage of President Habib Bourguiba, who was now weakened by old age and disease, were wrapped in intrigue, Ben Ali remained above the competition and the party politics. On the contrary, he acted to achieve the best political climate, establishing contact with the Tunisian League of the Humans rights, and opposition parties. From then on, he was seen as a man of dialogue and openness by the wider political community.

As Prime Minister, he took in hand a country in crisis, and faced the situation with determination: thwarting plots; increasing offers of appeasement; working to restore confidence; recommending logical and realistic solutions; and promoting the interests of Tunisia. President Bourguiba, however, was increasingly prone to absence and completely cut off from the reality of the country. On the advice of a medical report drawn up by the seven attending practitioners of President Bourguiba, his incapacity was confirmed, and under the terms of article 57 of the Constitution, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, took over the supreme office on November 7, 1987. The transition proceeded carefully, respecting constitutional law. Observers warned that it must be seen as an example of civilized behaviour, mindful that the former President was still held in high regard.

After his nomination, President Ben Ali made sure he honoured the proclamations contained in the Declaration of November 7: State of Right, popular sovereignty, national reconciliation, respect of fundamental freedoms, democracy, pluralism, social justice, solidarity, effort, opening and modernity; a programme the great majority of Tunisians were waiting for.

Ben Ali gave vitality and credibility again to the old Socialist Party Destourien, which had become lethargic. He restructured the PSD, renaming it the Democratic Constitutional Rassemblement, modernized his policy and reformulated his speech. The Party was open to young people of all competencies: it renewed its frameworks; restored its grassroots level; reinforced its credibility and its presence on the ground; and extended its audience and spread. On the political level, a mood of détente and national harmony settled. Increased measures were taken to establish a real democracy and the basis of a State of Right.

The Constitution was amended to remove the life presidency and automatic succession. The Economic and Social Council was restructured, its powers extended and its representation widened, to support a national consensus on the principal development choices. The constitutional Council was created after the Change to guarantee, in the spirit as in the letter, the constitutionality of the laws, and in 1998 a law was introduced to reinforce it as the opinions of the constitutional Council were, by then, essential on all official matters.

Freedom of expression was guaranteed; three amendments were made to the Code of the Press, conferring a modern and liberal direction on Tunisian legislation to allow journalists to do their work. In particular, a number of measures were taken to protect the opinions expressed by the Press. A new law on the parties, adopted in 1988, redefined the methods which chair the creation of the families and political groupings, printing a new dash with pluralism and giving an irreversible character to him. The presidential elections on April 2, 1989, were the first, in the history of the country, to be transparent and in perfect conformity with the law. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was elected President of the Republic as the candidate for all Tunisians, regardless of political persuasion. President Ben Ali's popularity with the nation was confirmed by his re-election on March 20, 1994, October 24, 1999, and on October 24, 2004, with a vast majority. The amended electoral Code also supported the multi-party system at the time of the legislative elections of 1994 and allowed, for the first time since the independence of Tunisia, the entry of the opposition to the Room of Deputies.

Following amendments made to the electoral Code in 1998, the opposition gained 33 seats out of 182 in the elections of October 24, 1999, and 37 seats out of 189 on at October 24, 2004. It gained 20% of the seats in 2000. Other amendments were introduced to lower the minimum age of candidates and to guarantee the right of candidature for any voter with a Tunisian mother whereas before only those with Tunisian fathers enjoyed this right. Moreover, the Constitution was amended to guarantee multiple candidatures for the presidential election. This plurality was to be set thus, for the first time in the history of Tunisia, at the elections of 24 October 1999. To confirm the resolutely democratic and liberal stance of President Ben Ali, a revolutionary constitutional reform that the Head of the State proposed on February the 13, 2002 introduced major changes that radically affected the political life of the country and the construction of the future republic: reinforcement of human rights and their guarantees, creation of a second chamber, consolidation of the role of the constitutional Council, etc. Other decisions supported this direction, especially through the introduction of a constitutional bill authorizing the expansion of candidatures for the next presidential elections.

Tunisians, of all political tendencies and social classes, supported reform by taking part in a referendum - the first in the history of the country - organized on May 26, 2002 to canvas public opinion, concrete proof of the commitment of the Tunisians and their leader. Liberal by conviction as much as by temperament, President Ben Ali made Tunisia a pioneering country in the defence of human rights. A global design was implemented combining economic, social and cultural rights with civil and political laws.Less than two weeks after the Change, a bill regulating police custody was implemented for the first time. The State security court and the role of the Republican Attorney General were removed, and hard labour was abolished. The UNO Convention of 1984 - against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment - was ratified unreservedly. The law guaranteed the children's rights and the culture of human rights was widely promoted. A new law was adopted in 1999 with the objectives of: reducing police custody times; replacing imprisonment with community work where it is in the interest of the general public, and the punishment is freely accepted by the condemned; and the definition of torture in line with international standards. This was in order to harmonize national legislation with the corresponding conventions of the United Nations that Tunisia had ratified without reservation. In addition, a bill was proposed to the House of Commons with the aim of establishing the rule of the double degree of jurisdiction out of criminal matter and of instituting the function of judge of application of the sorrows. This in addition to the fastening of the penal establishments and their administrations with the ministry for Justice opposing firmly to certain pressures passeists nourished by the partisans of the integrity, President Ben Ali proclaimed on November 7, 1987, his commitment to the emancipation of the woman and his determination to promote their rights.

Ben Ali was the architect a project to reconcile the nation, the National Pact, which was observed by all political and social persuasions in the country. A law of amnesty was also issued. To give the country work, President Ben Ali successfully rehabilitated the Tunisian General Union of Work (UGTT), by initiating a dialogue between the two sides of industry and making employment a fundamental requirement, as he was convinced that without the creation of riches and production and creativity effort there may be social justice but not progress. These economic reforms made it possible for the country to realize a rate of constant economic growth from approximately 5% and a rate of inflation not exceeding 2.7% for the past fourteen years. A national program for modernization was established in collaboration with the European Union with which Tunisia signed an Agreement of association and free trade in 1995. The modern infrastructure and favourable legislation, as well as the climate of stability and growth, did not fail to attract investors. The economic success of the Tunisian model is hailed throughout the world and is even called, by certain observers, the "Tunisian miracle".Undoubtedly, a deeply humanist approach to social realities is one of the dominant features of President Ben Ali's personality. He constantly listens to his people and supports their concerns and hopes. This work involves solidarity with the poorest, the rejection of exclusion, the exposure of racism, and equal opportunities. So the rate of poverty was reduced to 4.2% and the middle class represents nearly 80% of the population. In line with the people, Ben Ali cements the concept of national solidarity, which will be the base of its social policy. His visits to various areas or companies and other economic, social and educational establishments are always followed-up with immediate effect, sometimes resulting in, the very same day, the arrangement of a ministerial council which he chairs in person to take the appropriate decisions.
It was, moreover, after one of these visits out in the country in December 1992, that President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali decided to create National Solidarity Fund, better known under its current account number &#3426-26" The decision resonated with the Tunisians who, in support, answered the call of the President and gave many gifts and contributions to the Fund, to breakdown isolation, improve the living conditions of poor areas and enable their inhabitants to develop projects that will give them sources of income. Also, the creation of the Tunisian Bank of Solidarity in 1997, finances thousands of small projects each year creating jobs for young graduates and promoting initiative. The priority granted to employment was also demonstrated in the implementation of a system of microphone-credits to encourage the spirit of initiative among young people, and the creation of the National Employment Fund, or Fund 21-21.

Education reform, which made schooling compulsory until 16, resulted in a schooling rate higher than 99% to support the values of openness, tolerance and innovation, and to further promote equality between men and women. This equality was consolidated by many "avant-garde" measures adopted by President Ben Ali. The Code of the personal statute, one of the more progressive acts in the world for women, was consolidated and equality between the sexes entered daily life.

Internationally, President Ben Ali equipped Tunisia with an active and dynamic diplomacy. He contributed to the search for a fair and lasting peace in the Middle-East by working for the integration of the Maghrébin, the establishment of a Pan-Arab consensus, and the creation of a Cooperation Process in the Western Mediterranean. Considering the position that Tunisia occupies in the Mediterranean region, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took the initiative to give fresh impulse to Dialogue 5+5. During the time of his presidency, the first Dialogue 5+5 summit was held in Tunis on December 5, 2003, where he worked to cement a common Mediterranean understanding, reflecting the solidarity of the ten countries of the western basin of the Mediterranean and the specific relationship that joins them together.

The results of this summit were remarkable and consolidated the Cooperation Process in the Western Mediterranean by stimulating co-operation and partnership between the two banks of the Mediterranean and reinforced the advisability of instituting a Euro-Mediterranean forum to take account of the interdependence of the interests of the countries of the region. The 16th Arab summit held in Tunis, 22-23 May, 2004, confirmed President Ben Ali's accurate and realistic vision of the importance of the summit, the need for rationalizing the role of the Arab League to promote a common Arab action and the reinforcement of its credibility, as well as the work required to make the summit successful in convincing the Arabs for the need to adopt a total project which embodies the will to reform, and fulfills the aspirations of the Arab people regarding development, progress and modernization. President Ben Ali continued, during the period of his presidency of this 16th session, to implement the results of the Summit of Tunis and its dedication to the causes of the Arab nation.In the context of its humanist vision, its realistic approach and balanced international relations, the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Tunis in 2005, highlighted the credibility Tunisia enjoys in the international arena. In 1998 in Minneapolis (US), President Ben Ali called for a meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society to examine the gap between developed and developing countries, starting from the conviction that " numerical ditch is initially a variation of development and a ditch blocking the dialogue of civilizations, before being a ditch technologic" These topics were supported by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, at the time of his participation in the first phase of the SMSI held in Geneva in December 2003, clearly showing his support of action on a universal scale to provide the foundations for an equitable and interdependent world.

In his many appointments abroad, when meeting Heads of State, Sovereigns, brothers and friends, or when meeting with diplomats or highly responsible internationals, President Ben Ali always forcefully pleads for a fairer, more interdependent, more stable and more prosperous world. For him, the phenomenon of "universalization" must be a source of universal progress and development and not domination or destabilization. Worldly and humane, President Ben Ali recommended the creation of a World of Solidarity Fund to collect voluntary donations and contributions and use them in the fight against poverty and the development of the poorest countries. In September 2000, the General meeting of the United Nations endorsed this humane project and spoke in praise of the initiative, enabling the implementation of a suitable mechanism to promote universal values for a better future for all of humanity. The designation by UNESCO of Tunis as a regional, cultural capital in 1997 promotes the increased cultural radiation of Tunisia and her capacity to contribute to the dialogue between civilizations.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is married and the father of six children. His wife, Mrs. Leïla Ben Ali, is very active in several Tunisian and international organizations working for the causes of women, the family and childhood.

Author

This article was kindley researched for Tunisia.com by Makrem Ben Salem.

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