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Click here for the NewsAfrica Special Focus Article Business as usual WHEN TUNISIANS went to the polls at the end of last month, the outcome was known before a single ballot was cast. The only thing left for speculation was how much of the vote incumbent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali would take. In the event, he won another landslide victory, with 89.6 per cent of the vote, returning him to office for his fifth consecutive five-year term. On the eve of the October 25 poll, Human Rights Watch issued a press release saying that ‘repressive acts and tight controls on the election process tainted the prospects for free and fair presidential and legislative elections in Tunisia.’ They said that ‘tailor-made laws’ prevented the candidates from some of the stronger opposition parties from running, while ‘severe constraints on freedoms of expression’ deprived challengers of making their case to the public. In an attempt to counter such allegations, Ben Ali said in a televised speech on the eve of the poll, ‘The presidential and legislative elections campaign was conducted with due respect for the law and the principles of democracy, and within a climate of civic behaviour offering competing candidates from nine political parties, in addition to independent candidates, the opportunity to make heard their voices and present their programmes.’ But he warned that those who questioned the legitimacy of the poll would be dealt with harshly. ‘There exists a tiny minority of Tunisians who, at this very moment, resort to and seek the support of foreign parties which they incite against their country, and cast doubts upon its achievements and gains,’ he said. ‘We will take all the measures required by the law to counter this behaviour … The law will be strictly applied against anyone who will level accusations or cast doubts upon the transparency of the election process without providing concrete evidence.’ A few days after the elections, which were endorsed as free and fair by the African Union, Amnesty International issued a press release condemning the assault of two journalists and the arrest of a third one, all of whom expressed dissatisfaction about Ben Ali’s re-election for a fifth term. ‘The targeting of these journalists, all known critics of the Ben Ali government, reflects a wider and long standing pattern in which critics of the government and human rights activists are routinely subjected to oppressive police surveillance, threats and intimidation by security officials or people in plain clothes believed to be acting on their behalf,’ Amnesty International said. One of the assaulted reporters, Slim Boukhdhir, is an independent journalist who had previously been jailed for writing articles critical of the government. According to Amnesty International, he was stopped in the street and forced into a car by men in plain clothes, believed to be police or security officials, and was beaten until he lost consciousness. Two hours before he was attacked, Boukhdhir criticised lack of press freedom in an interview with the BBC. The other arrested men are Lotfi Hajji, a correspondent for the Al Jazeera satellite TV channel, and Taoufik Ben Brik, a well-known government critic. The Paris-based Reporters Without Frontiers, an organisation which advocates for press freedom globally, has condemned the post-election incidents. Critics say that the progress that Tunisia has made towards democracy is largely ‘cosmetic’ and that, in reality, power is concentrated in the hands of one man and one party. In the parliamentary elections held at the same time as the presidential election, Ben Ali’s ruling party, The Constitutional Democractic Rally (Le Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique or RCD), secured 84.6 per cent of the seats in parliament. The leader of the Progressive Democratic Party, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, was arguably the only candidate who could have been a serious challenger to Ben Ali. But an amendment to the electoral law, stipulating that only individuals who have been party leaders for at least two years can run for president and passed just after his party designated him, eliminated Chebbi from the race. In previous elections, Ben Ali attracted suspicion for near perfect wins. With his tendency to cling to power, Ben Ali seems to be on the path to president-for-life, a path often travelled by many African leaders. He is certainly in good company in the North African region. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya celebrated in September the 40th anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak is currently serving his fifth consecutive six-year term. Having removed the two-term limit on the presidency, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was swept into office in a landslide earlier this year for the third consecutive term. Ben Ali has dominated Tunisian politics for more than two decades. After holding various positions in government, including director general of national security, he was appointed prime minister in October 1987 by President Habib Bourguiba. The following month, Ben Ali seized power, saying that Bourguiba was too old and ill for office. Bourguiba, who was the architect of Tunisia’s independence and the country’s first president, established a strict single-party system and showed every sign of being a president-for-life. After deposing Bourguiba, Ben Ali introduced some political reforms and opened up parliament to opposition parties. Yet the RCD has been in power since independence in 1956. Ben Ali abolished the president-for-life system and introduced a term limit for the presidency, only to scrap it later to allow himself to run for more terms. All the same, Ben Ali has a strong support base in the country, largely because he has presided over a period of relative political stability and sustained economic growth. The Tunisian economy has managed an average annual growth of about five per cent over the past decade. In its 2008-2009 report, The World Economic Forum ranks Tunisia the most competitive economy in Africa and the 40th in the world. Despite possessing less abundant natural resources than its neighbours, Tunisia has succeeded in attracting considerable inflows of foreign investment in recent years. Having started earlier the process of eliminating tariffs on bilateral trade with the European Union, Tunisia was the first country in the Mediterranean region to sign an Association Agreement with the EU in 1995. It completed the process of dismantling tariffs for industrial products in 2008 and became the first country to enter in a free trade zone with the EU. It is currently among the EU’s key trading partners in the Mediterranean. Accounting for 72.5 per cent of imports and 75 per cent of exports, the EU is Tunisia’s most important trading partner. Tunisia is also a top tourist destination, with millions of European flocking to the country every year. While much of the foreign money flowing into the country comes from Western nations, Tunisia has also drawn significant investment from states in the Gulf region, especially the United Arab Emirates. Ben Ali has been praised for pursuing progressive social policies, including poverty reduction programme, and billions of dollars have been pumped into development projects in recent years. These initiatives have helped to raise living standards and per capita incomes of Tunisians, relative to the region. Improving the education system has been a priority for the Ben Ali government. In its 2008-2009 report, The World Economic Forum ranks Tunisia 17th in the quality of higher education and 21st in the quality of primary education. Yet the country has been plagued by high unemployment rates, especially among young people, and many graduates are unable to find jobs. Tunisia has also made significant strides towards achieving equal rights for women and including them into the country’s political system. Women account for more than 20 per cent in both chambers of parliament. This figure is exceptional for any African or Arab state. Today Tunisia is seen as one of the most open and progressive societies in the Africa and the Arab World. Much of the progress that Ben Ali has been praised for is a continuation of policies – including economic liberalism, fighting illiteracy and the advancement of women – which were first implemented by his predecessor. ‘Tunisia will forge ahead on the path of success and excellence,’ Ben Ali said in his address on the eve of the elections. ‘Proud of its achievements and gains … it will pursue its process of advancement toward the future with confidence and capability.’ Despite the considerable advances in social and economic development, Ben Ali is often criticised for not tolerating internal dissent. Open criticism of the president and government policies are discouraged and the result, critics charge, is a widespread self-censorship and political apathy. Critics also say that, as an ally of the US in the fight against international terrorism, Ben Ali has been given a carte blanche which he uses freely to crush internal dissent. Since 2003, thousands of people have reportedly been arrested on suspicion of having links with terrorist groups. |
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