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Tunisia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Tunisia

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi Parliament Chamber of Deputies Chamber of Councillors Political parties Elections Governorates Delegations Foreign relations

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Politics in Tunisia take place under a framework of a presidential republic. The President of Tunisia is both head of state and head of government, and there is a multi-party system dominated by the Democratic Constitutional Rally. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia.

[edit] Overview

The current Constitution was adopted on June 1, 1959 soon after its independence from France. The constitution has been changed twice to allow the President to remain in power: initially from two to three terms, and then from three to five. It was amended on July 12, 1988 to limit to two the number of terms a president is allowed to run. In 1998 it was amended to allow the President three terms. In 2002 it was changed to allow the president to rule for five terms.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been in office since 1987, the year he acceded to the executive office Habib Bourguiba after a team of medical experts judged Bourguiba unfit to exercise the functions of the office. At the time, Tunisia was on the verge of upheaval as Ennahdha's (banned Islamic party) supporters were attempting to seize power. Since his access to power, also known as "the Change", President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali launched a series of reform meant to introduce political pluralism and boost the economy.

[edit] Background

Tunisia is a republic presidential system characterized by bicameral parliamentary system, including the Chamber of Representatives and the Chamber of Advisors.

In Tunisia, the President is elected to 5-year terms. He appoints a Prime Minister and cabinet, who play a strong role in the execution of policy. Regional governors and local administrators also are appointed by the central government. Largely consultative mayors and municipal councils are elected. There is a bicameral legislative body, the Chamber of Deputies, which has 182 seats, 20% of which are reserved for the opposition parties and the Chamber of Advisors which is composed of representatives from political parties, from professional organizations and by personalities appointed by the president of the Republic. Both chambers are composed of more than 20% of women, making it one of the rare countries in the Arab world where women enjoy equal rights. Incidentally, it is also the only country in the Arab world where polygamy is forbidden by law. This as part of a provision of the country’s Code of Personal Status which was introduced by the former President Habib Bourguiba in 1956. The judiciary is independent. The military is professional and does not play a role in politics.

Since 1987, Tunisia has gradually reformed its political system, it has abolished life presidency and opened up parliament to opposition parties. There are currently nine political parties in Tunisia, six of whom are represented in parliament. The majority party known as the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) in French, is composed of about 2 million members and more than 6000 representations throughout the country; although the party was renamed (in Bourguiba’s days it used to be known as the Socialist Destourian Party), its policies are still considered to be largely secular. Since 2007, all political parties represented in parliament benefit from state subsidies to cover the rising cost of paper and to expand their publication. In July 2008, new constitutional provisions have been voted by the country’s parliament. These provisions which include lowering the age of voting to 18, as well as easing the conditions for eligibility for the presidency, also allow for any head of political party , whether represented in parliament or not to present their candidacy, to run for president.

The state has also abolished the ‘depot legal’, which required prior authorization before sending to print, and issued legislation meant to bring amendments to the press code which provides journalists with greater freedom to express their ideas. Recently, the election of a syndicate of journalists met with a positive reaction from journalists. There are currently about 300 publications in Tunisia, most of them are financially and editorially independent.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as well as other press freedom groups have regularly led fact finding missions and issued reports calling on Tunisia to free what they consider as detained journalists, however Tunisian authorities have reacted by saying that there are no journalists currently held for having expressed their ideas. The recent case in point was provided by the ‘Slim Boukhdir case’, a journalist (since then released before serving his term), who was sentenced to a year in jail for having insulted a police officer on duty, according to the version given by the authorities. CPJ denies this version, arguing he was convicted for having written articles critical of the president. Tunisian authorities maintain that only pornographic material and articles inciting to hate, are banned by law. This is the case of both the printed press and the internet which has witnessed a considerable development with more than 1,1 million users and hundreds of internet cafes, known as ‘Publinet.’

Human rights are also the subject of controversy between human rights groups such as Amnesty International that argue that rights are not respected and Tunisian authorities that make the point that in recent international fora such as the United Nations - based New York Human Rights Commission and the Human Rights Committee in Geneva (2008), where all of the countries of the world go through a ‘periodic review’, Tunisia ‘s efforts to promote a comprehensive system of human rights were officially acknowledged.

Tunisia is also one of three Muslim countries (Azerbaijan and Turkey are the others) that prohibits the hijab in government buildings. By government edict, women that insist on wearing the hijab cannot enter public buildings. Dissenters are liable to a fine and have to sign a document to avoid recidivism. Even if the ban against the hijab in public offices, is not always strictly enforced, the publicity given to certain cases, has overshadowed the real issues.

Underground opposition from Islamic fundamentalists has an obvious but shadowy existence in Tunisia.^{[citation needed]} Under former President Habib Bourguiba, Islamic fundamentalists were temporarily allowed to serve as a counterweight to more left-leaning movements, until their plans to seize power was revealed .^{[citation needed]} Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, has consistently expressed his opposition to the presence of religious parties in parliament, and the Tunisian constitution clearly forbids the inclusion of religious parties in the political system.^{[citation needed]} While Tunisia cannot boast the natural resources its neighbors have, standards of living are among the best in the developing world.^{[citation needed]} This can be evidenced by two compelling economic observations: the level to which Tunisia has become self-sufficient in material goods, and the extent of real estate development in the cities and major towns of the country. Put simply, the mid-level retail outlet will typically offer goods more than 90% of which are home produced. As to the rise of the building and construction industry, a fleeting visit to any of Tunisia's smaller towns (let alone the cities) will confirm that development is rampant: many projects, especially hotels, are newly opened, and many more stand as skeleton buildings, ready to be developed as soon as demand - and capital funds - are available to bring them to completion.

Poverty has significantly been reduced due to a strong social commitment from the government, and now stands at 3,8%, instead of some 50% in 1956.

[edit] Executive branch

In Tunisia, the President is elected to 5-year terms. He appoints a Prime Minister and cabinet, who play a strong role in the execution of policy. Regional governors and local administrators also are appointed by the central government. Largely consultative mayors and municipal councils are elected. There is a bicameral legislative body, the Chamber of Deputies, which has 182 seats, 20% of which are reserved for the opposition parties and the Chamber of Advisers which is composed of representatives from political parties, from professional organizations and by personalities appointed by the president of the Republic. Both chambers are composed of more than 20% of women, making it one of the rare countries in the Arab world where women enjoy equal rights. Incidentally, it is also the only country in the Arab world where polygamy is forbidden by law. This as part of a provision of the country’s Code of Personal Status which was introduced by the former President Habib Bourguiba in 1956. The military is professional and does not play any role in national politics.

[edit] Legislative branch

The bicameral Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia (Majlis al-Nuwaab) has 189 seats and members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. 20% of the seats are reserved for the opposition. It plays a growing role as an arena for debate on national policy but never originates legislation and virtually always passes bills presented by the executive with only minor changes.A second chamber, The Chamber of Councillors of Tunisia, was created July 2005 by Parliament. This Chamber is controlled by the governing party.

[edit] Political parties and elections

[edit] Judicial branch

The judiciary is nominally independent but responds to executive direction especially in political cases. See also the Cour de Cassation.

[edit] Legal system

The Tunisian legal system is based on French civil law system and Islamic law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session.

[edit] Administrative divisions

Tunisia is divided into 24 governorates: Ariana Governorate (Aryanah), Béja Governorate (Bajah), Ben Arous Governorate (Bin 'Arus), Bizerte Governorate (Banzart), Gabès Governorate (Qabis), Gafsa Governorate (Qafsah), Jendouba Governorate (Jundubah), Kairouan Governorate (Al Qayrawan), Kasserine Governorate (Al Qasrayn), Kebili Governorate (Qibili), Kef Governorate (Al Kaf), Mahdia Governorate (Al Mahdiyah), Manouba Governorate (Manubah), Medenine Governorate (Madanin), Monastir Governorate (Al Munastir), Nabeul Governorate (Nabul), Sfax Governorate (Safaqis), Sidi Bou Said Governorate (Sidi Bu Zayd), Siliana Governorate (Silyanah), Sousse Governorate (Susah), Tataouine Governorate (Tatawin), Tozeur Governorate (Tawzar), Tunis, Zaghouan Governorate (Zaghwan)

[edit] International organization participation

ABEDA, ACCT, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BSEC (observer), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAS, MICAH, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

[edit] See also

• Tunisia Monitoring Group
• Sihem Bensedrine

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tunisia Government at the Open Directory Project
• U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Tunisia 2005, 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, March 8, 2006
• U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2008 Human Rights Practices: Tunisia, 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, February 25, 2009
• Amnesty International USA, Tunisia Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch, Tunisia