Tunisia
Country in N Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, bounded SE by Libya
and W by Algeria.
Government
The 1959 constitution, amended 1988, provides for a president, who
is both head of state and government, elected by universal suffrage
for a five -year term. The president cannot serve more than three terms.
There is a single-chamber, 163-member national assembly, also directly
elected for a five-year term (144 by simple majority voting and, from
1993, 19 reserved for parties failing to win a majority in each of the
country's 25 constituencies, so as to ensure the presence of an opposition
in the national assembly).
The president appoints a prime minister and a council of ministers.
History
The Destour Socialist Party (PSD), founded 1934 by Habib Bourguiba,
led Tunisia's campaign for independence from France. The country achieved
internal self- government 1955 and full independence 1956, with Bourguiba
as prime minister. A year later the monarchy was abolished, and Tunisia
became a republic, with Bourguiba as president. A new constitution was
adopted 1959, and the first national assembly elected. Bourguiba was
made president for life 1975. Between 1963 and 1981 the PSD was the
only legally recognized party, but others were subsequently formed.
In Nov 1986 the PSD won all the assembly seats, while other parties
boycotted the elections.
President Bourguiba followed a distinctive foreign policy, establishing
links with the Western powers, including the USA, but joining other
Arab states in condemning the US- inspired Egypt-Israel treaty. He allowed
the Palestine Liberation Organization to use Tunis as its headquarters,
provoking an Israeli attack 1985 and straining relations with the USA.
Diplomatic links with Libya were severed 1985, and not restored until
1988.
Bourguiba's firm and paternalistic rule, and his long period in Tunisian
politics, made him a national legend. However, in Nov 1987 he was deposed
and replaced by Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali. In July 1988, a number of
significant constitutional changes were announced, presaging a move
to more pluralist politics, but in the April 1989 elections the renamed
PSD, now the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), won all 141 assembly
seats. During the Gulf War Jan-Feb 1991 which followed Iraq's invasion
of Kuwait, there were anti-US protests in Tunisia.
Ben Ali's active repression and alleged torture of Islamic fundamentalists
provoked criticism from Western nations Jan 1992. The West saw the government
crackdown as a major setback in Tunisia's progress towards democracy.
Changes to the electoral system were approved 1993, introducing proportional
representation for 19 of the 144 seats in the national assembly. In
the March 1994 presidential election Ben Ali, as the only candidate,
won 99% of the vote. The RCD won more than 90% of the vote in the concurrent
assembly elections.
In March 1996 the leader the Movement of Social Democrats (MDS), the
main opposition party, was jailed for his secret contacts with Libyan
agents.
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