by A. Mahjar-Barducci
Following in the footsteps of Bourguiba, Essebsi noted that he wanted to bring Tunisia into the 21st century, not leave it behind in the seventh century, taking into consideration that there is no incompatibility between Islam and democracy and acknowledging that the problem to be dealt with is political Islam.
On December 31, 2014, Beji Caid Essebsi, aka BCE,
was sworn in as Tunisia's president, after winning 55.68% of the vote to interim
president Moncef Marzouki's 44.32%.[1]
Essebsi, leader of the progressive and secular party Nidaa Tounes ("Call for Tunisia"), was directly elected by a plurality system and, in accordance with the Consitution,
will serve a five-year term. Nidaa Tounes, formed in 2012 by Essebsi, also won
a relative majority in the October 26 legislative elections, the country's first since the ratification of its
new constitution in January
2014.[2]
Although numerous parties and candidates had thrown their hats into the ring, the Tunisian media treated the legislative elections as primarily between two parties, Nidaa Tounes and the Islamist party Ennahda. Progressive voices in Tunisia viewed the legislative election in Tunisia as a battle between modernism and secularism (represented by Nidaa Tounes) and obscurantism/Islamism (represented by Ennahda). Essebsi's victory was saluted by progressive voices in Tunisia as the country's will to steer the revolution of January 14, 2011 towards a secular path.
The new president of Tunisia, Beji Caïd Essebsi (Source: Kapitalis, Tunisia, December 22, 2014).
The Parliamentary Elections Of October 26, 2014
On October 26, 2014, Tunisians went to the polls in the parliamentary elections, the first since the adoption of the country's new constitution in January 2014. Nidaa Tounes won a relative majority with 86 seats in the 217-seat Assembly of the Representatives of the People,[3] Tunisia's legislative branch of government, beating the Islamist Ennahda party, which won 69 seats.[4] The first speaker of Tunisian's unicameral Assembly is Mohammed Ennaceur, deputy leader of Nidaa Tounes.
According to Tunisian editorialist Moncef Dhambri,[5] these elections, and the victory of Nidaa Tounes, represent a "correction" of the 2011 election, when Ennahda won a relative majority and a troika government comprising Ennahda, the Congress for the Republic (CpR), and Ettakatol was created. Dhambri writes:
"...In June 2012, when the decision to create Nidaa Tounes was taken, a correction of the post-revolutionary course took place, and the Tunisian political arena inexorably took the path, as promoted and fostered by BCE, of rebalancing.
Emblem of Nidaa Tounes
A month after the parliamentary
elections, on November 23, 2014, Tunisians went to the polls for the
presidential elections, the first since the Jasmine Revolution and the
subsequent fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. However,
on November 23, none of the several candidates secured an absolute majority. A
second round was set for December 21.
The candidates who passed to the second round were Beji Caid Essebsi, with 39.46% in the first round, and Moncef Marzouki, who is the founder of the CpR party and had been interim president since being elected to the post in 2011 by the Constituent Assembly, with 33.43%. The second round of the elections, between Essebsi and Marzouki, was a battle between two political figures that embodied the bipolarization of political life in the country. On the one side was Essebsi, the leader of a liberal and secular party, and on the other side was Marzouki,[8] known as "Tartour" ("insignificant" in Arabic, meaning that he could be pushed in any direction), and whose presidency has been criticized for having abandoned liberal values and for having being supported by Ennahda. In an interview with France 24 TV, Essebsi himself declared that Marzouki's presidential campaign had been organized by Ennahda.[9] He also mentioned that among Marzouki's supporters were Salafists and the League for the Protection of the Revolution, considered a paramilitary movement close to Ennahda.[10]
The Islamist party Ennahda did not have a candidate in the race. According to Tunisian editorialist Rachid Barnat,[11] the reason for this is that the party knew it had no chance of winning. Barnat wrote: "Tunisians should also ask themselves why Islamists are not directly presenting a candidate and prefer to more or less openly support someone else! The reason is simply that they know all too well that they have absolutely no chance, and in case they presented somebody directly, it would show that they are a giant with feet of clay, with a pernicious ideology which has received only a few votes (800,000 at most, of a total of 11 million Tunisians)."
Woman representing Tunisia: "My future? I'd like to place it in good hands." Source: La troisieme republique tunisienne, October 16, 2014.
The Second Round: Essebsi's Victory
In the second round, Beji Caid Essebsi won with 55.68% of the vote, against Marzouki's 44.32%, and was sworn in as Tunisian president on December 31, 2014.
The Tunisian political system can
be defined as semi-presidential.[13]
The president of the Tunisian Republic ensures respect for the Constitution, and
guarantees the territorial integrity of the country and the independence of the
state. The president can set the country's defense, foreign affairs, and internal
security agendas, together with the prime
minister; he is commander in chief of the armed forces and presides over the
highest national security institutions. He also appoints senior officials, such
as the Mufti of the Republic and the governor of the Central Bank, following
proposals
by the prime
minister and with the approval of the absolute majority of the members of the
Assembly. The president can ratify international treaties, accredit ambassadors
abroad, and issue pardons, and can also send bills introduced by the Assembly
for a second deliberation. He also has the power to dissolve the Assembly.[14]
Tunisian commentator Rachid Barnat explained explains that the Tunisian president "will play a vital role," as "he is the person who is going to inspire and direct the policy of the country both at home and abroad." Barnat underlines that the president "will play an even more important role due to the fact that no absolute majority came out of the [legislative] elections and that he will have to facilitate the formation of alliances for the good of the country."[15]
Essebsi: Following In The Footsteps Of Bourguiba
President Beji Caid Essebsi, 88, is the founder of Nidaa Tounes, which was established June 16, 2012 after the post-revolution 2011 elections, to deal with the emergence of extremism and violence that threatened public and individual liberties.[16] Essebsi graduated from the Paris Law Faculty in 1950 and began his law practice in 1952. As a student, he joined the Tunisian liberal and nationalist party Neo Destour, which sought to free Tunisia from the French protectorate. After Tunisian independence in 1956, he served as an advisor to the first Tunisian president and Neo Destour cofounder Habib Bourguiba, who pursued a program of secularization of the country.
Essebsi's political career can be summarized as follows:[17]
· In 1956, following the country's independence from France, Essebsi served as an advisor to the first Tunisian president, Habib Bourguiba.
· In 1965, Essebsi assumed the position of Minister of Interior.
· In 1969, Essebsi served as Minister of Defense.
· In 1970, Essebsi was appointed Tunisia's ambassador to France.
· From 1981 to 1986, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the government of prime minister Mohamed Mzali.
· In 1987, he was appointed Tunisia's ambassador to West Germany.
· From 1990 to 1991, he served as president of the Chamber of Deputies.
· On February 27, 2011, following the resignation of prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, temporary president Fouad Mubazaa appointed Essebsi Tunisian prime minister. Mubazaa tasked Essebsi with forming an interim government that would serve until the Constituent Assembly elections were held.
Following in the footsteps of Bourguiba, Essebsi noted that he wanted to bring Tunisia into the 21st century, not leave it behind in the seventh century, taking into consideration that there is no incompatibility between Islam and democracy and acknowledging that the problem to be dealt with is political Islam.[18] Essebsi also authored a book on Bourguiba, Habib Bourguiba: Le bon grain et l'ivraie ("The Wheat and the Chaff"), a personal account of how the first Tunisian president shaped modern Tunisia.[19]
Essebsi's critics often point out that his advanced age is an obstacle in his ability to function as president.[20] In an interview, Essebsi answered this criticism as follows: "I cannot change [my] age, I have the age that I have. However, youth is not a civil status, but a state of mind. And I think that I have a young state of mind and that my state of mind is younger than that of those who criticize me."[21]
The New Tunisian Prime Minister
On January 23,
2015, the new prime minister, Habib Essid, announced
the lineup of his cabinet. The proposed government team comprises 24
ministers. The new proposed
government comprises national competencies that include political figures,
civil society activists, and experts, with a substantial presence of women and
youth. The two represented parties are Nidaa Tounes and the Free
Patriotic Union. However, the government may not survive a no-confidence vote,
as major parties were excluded in the government. No cabinet posts were given to members of the Islamist
party Ennahda, which holds 69 seats in the assembly.
In an official statement, Ennahda announced that it would not vote to
grant confidence to the government.
Other parties have declared that they will not grant confidence to the new government. Among them are the leftist Popular Front party and the liberal party Afek Tounes, both excluded in the government.
Official Ennahda statement. Statement by Ennahda. Source: Facebook.com/Nahdha.International?fref=nf, January 25, 2015.
Although numerous parties and candidates had thrown their hats into the ring, the Tunisian media treated the legislative elections as primarily between two parties, Nidaa Tounes and the Islamist party Ennahda. Progressive voices in Tunisia viewed the legislative election in Tunisia as a battle between modernism and secularism (represented by Nidaa Tounes) and obscurantism/Islamism (represented by Ennahda). Essebsi's victory was saluted by progressive voices in Tunisia as the country's will to steer the revolution of January 14, 2011 towards a secular path.
The new president of Tunisia, Beji Caïd Essebsi (Source: Kapitalis, Tunisia, December 22, 2014).
The Parliamentary Elections Of October 26, 2014
On October 26, 2014, Tunisians went to the polls in the parliamentary elections, the first since the adoption of the country's new constitution in January 2014. Nidaa Tounes won a relative majority with 86 seats in the 217-seat Assembly of the Representatives of the People,[3] Tunisia's legislative branch of government, beating the Islamist Ennahda party, which won 69 seats.[4] The first speaker of Tunisian's unicameral Assembly is Mohammed Ennaceur, deputy leader of Nidaa Tounes.
According to Tunisian editorialist Moncef Dhambri,[5] these elections, and the victory of Nidaa Tounes, represent a "correction" of the 2011 election, when Ennahda won a relative majority and a troika government comprising Ennahda, the Congress for the Republic (CpR), and Ettakatol was created. Dhambri writes:
"...In June 2012, when the decision to create Nidaa Tounes was taken, a correction of the post-revolutionary course took place, and the Tunisian political arena inexorably took the path, as promoted and fostered by BCE, of rebalancing.
"Today, it is an accomplished fact:
The Islamist party Ennahda, after the legislative elections of last October 26,
was reduced to its correct value, along with its allies of Ettakatol and of the
Congress for the Republic (CpR), which succumbed to the temptation of forming
an alliance with the Islamists and which were entirely eliminated (such as in
the case of Mustapha
Ben Jaafar [former Constituent
Assembly president and Ettakol founder]) or which,
in the future, will have to content themselves with playing a secondary role
(concerning Moncef Marzouki's party)."
Emblem of Nidaa Tounes
However, Nidaa Tounes' victory in the
legislative elections was also defined as "poisoned."[6]
The secular party hasn't actually won an absolute majority, but a relative one,
and for this reason Nidaa Tounes needs to form a coalition in order to form a
government. Many progressive commentators feared that Nidaa Tounes would form a
coalition with Ennahda, which in 2011 won a relative majority,[7]
and which now has lost the first position but managed to preserve a strategic one,
by winning 31.8% of the seats.
The First Round: November 23 Presidential Elections
The candidates who passed to the second round were Beji Caid Essebsi, with 39.46% in the first round, and Moncef Marzouki, who is the founder of the CpR party and had been interim president since being elected to the post in 2011 by the Constituent Assembly, with 33.43%. The second round of the elections, between Essebsi and Marzouki, was a battle between two political figures that embodied the bipolarization of political life in the country. On the one side was Essebsi, the leader of a liberal and secular party, and on the other side was Marzouki,[8] known as "Tartour" ("insignificant" in Arabic, meaning that he could be pushed in any direction), and whose presidency has been criticized for having abandoned liberal values and for having being supported by Ennahda. In an interview with France 24 TV, Essebsi himself declared that Marzouki's presidential campaign had been organized by Ennahda.[9] He also mentioned that among Marzouki's supporters were Salafists and the League for the Protection of the Revolution, considered a paramilitary movement close to Ennahda.[10]
The Islamist party Ennahda did not have a candidate in the race. According to Tunisian editorialist Rachid Barnat,[11] the reason for this is that the party knew it had no chance of winning. Barnat wrote: "Tunisians should also ask themselves why Islamists are not directly presenting a candidate and prefer to more or less openly support someone else! The reason is simply that they know all too well that they have absolutely no chance, and in case they presented somebody directly, it would show that they are a giant with feet of clay, with a pernicious ideology which has received only a few votes (800,000 at most, of a total of 11 million Tunisians)."
Woman representing Tunisia: "My future? I'd like to place it in good hands." Source: La troisieme republique tunisienne, October 16, 2014.
The Second Round: Essebsi's Victory
In the second round, Beji Caid Essebsi won with 55.68% of the vote, against Marzouki's 44.32%, and was sworn in as Tunisian president on December 31, 2014.
Tunisian
editorialist Moncef Dhambri stressed that the Tunisian
people had handed Nidaa Tounes a double victory, as the country needs a
progressive party in order to achieve the goals of the Arab Spring. He wrote:[12]
"[Nidaa Tounes] seized, within
the short space of two months (the October 26 legislative elections and the
second round of the December 21 presidential elections) the legislative and
executive powers.
"Endowed with such a majority,
Nidaa Tounes will be able to work and put all the country to work in order to
prove right all those who, in Tunisia and abroad, believed that Tunisia could succeed where
all the other Arab Springs [in other countries] have failed.
"By placing [their] trust in Nidaa
Tounes and by granting [this party] all the powers, the Tunisian people will
certainly and insistently pretend that all the promises made by BCE's party, in
the course of the legislative and presidential campaigns, will be implemented.
The people who voted for Nidaa Tounes and against Ennahda and its allies are
expecting that Mr. Caid Essebsi [BCE] and his people will find a rapid solution
to the problems inherited from the old regime, and to all the crises
experienced by the country since Ben Ali fled – and which became even worse
when affairs of state were managed by the people from Ennahda...
"BCE and the leadership of Nidaa
Tounes kept on repeating that they will not rule alone and that they will try
to bring together, in their mission to rescue the country, all the people of
good will and all the competencies that might contribute to a new start.
"In the next five years, success
in the conduct of affairs of state will depend on the ability that will or will
not be shown by the Nidaa people to convince Tunisians that even though their
expectations have been deferred for too long, they must wait a little longer.
Disparities among regions, the weak economic growth, the endemic unemployment,
and the drawbacks and delays afflicting Tunisia will not be solved overnight.
"A revolution has a price. A
democracy must be deserved. The dignity of a people and the establishment of
justice also carry a very high price.
"The good electoral choices made
by Tunisia on October 26 and December 21, 2014 certainly represent a good step forward."
The Powers Of The Tunisian President
Tunisian commentator Rachid Barnat explained explains that the Tunisian president "will play a vital role," as "he is the person who is going to inspire and direct the policy of the country both at home and abroad." Barnat underlines that the president "will play an even more important role due to the fact that no absolute majority came out of the [legislative] elections and that he will have to facilitate the formation of alliances for the good of the country."[15]
Essebsi: Following In The Footsteps Of Bourguiba
President Beji Caid Essebsi, 88, is the founder of Nidaa Tounes, which was established June 16, 2012 after the post-revolution 2011 elections, to deal with the emergence of extremism and violence that threatened public and individual liberties.[16] Essebsi graduated from the Paris Law Faculty in 1950 and began his law practice in 1952. As a student, he joined the Tunisian liberal and nationalist party Neo Destour, which sought to free Tunisia from the French protectorate. After Tunisian independence in 1956, he served as an advisor to the first Tunisian president and Neo Destour cofounder Habib Bourguiba, who pursued a program of secularization of the country.
Essebsi's political career can be summarized as follows:[17]
· In 1956, following the country's independence from France, Essebsi served as an advisor to the first Tunisian president, Habib Bourguiba.
· In 1965, Essebsi assumed the position of Minister of Interior.
· In 1969, Essebsi served as Minister of Defense.
· In 1970, Essebsi was appointed Tunisia's ambassador to France.
· From 1981 to 1986, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the government of prime minister Mohamed Mzali.
· In 1987, he was appointed Tunisia's ambassador to West Germany.
· From 1990 to 1991, he served as president of the Chamber of Deputies.
· On February 27, 2011, following the resignation of prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, temporary president Fouad Mubazaa appointed Essebsi Tunisian prime minister. Mubazaa tasked Essebsi with forming an interim government that would serve until the Constituent Assembly elections were held.
Following in the footsteps of Bourguiba, Essebsi noted that he wanted to bring Tunisia into the 21st century, not leave it behind in the seventh century, taking into consideration that there is no incompatibility between Islam and democracy and acknowledging that the problem to be dealt with is political Islam.[18] Essebsi also authored a book on Bourguiba, Habib Bourguiba: Le bon grain et l'ivraie ("The Wheat and the Chaff"), a personal account of how the first Tunisian president shaped modern Tunisia.[19]
Essebsi's critics often point out that his advanced age is an obstacle in his ability to function as president.[20] In an interview, Essebsi answered this criticism as follows: "I cannot change [my] age, I have the age that I have. However, youth is not a civil status, but a state of mind. And I think that I have a young state of mind and that my state of mind is younger than that of those who criticize me."[21]
The New Tunisian Prime Minister
On January 5, 2015, Habib Essid was nominated prime minister by Nidaa
Tounes and was asked to form a new government. Essid previously served in the
government under ousted Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and following
Ben Ali's ouster was appointed provisional interior minister in March 2011,
serving in that capacity until December of that year.
Essid, 65, was previously a high-level
civil servant dealing primarily with issues related to agriculture. Later on,
he moved to the Interior Ministry, where he remained until 2001. Eventually, he
went back to agricultural affairs, and in 2004 became executive director of the
Madrid-based International Olive Council and serving in that capacity until
2010. He served also as interior minister in the government of Beji Caid
Essebsi, when the latter was appointed prime minister in 2011. Thereafter, he
was advisor for security affairs in the cabinet of prime minister Hamadi
Jebali.
According to Tunisian
journalist Marouen Achouri, the signals
provided by the choice to appoint Essid are clear: "security and recovery
of the prestige of the State."[22] However,
Achouri mentions as well that Essid's appointment may raise "perplexities":
"Nidaa Tounes has chosen a hard-working figure with a proven track record
at the service of the State. [His] profile responds to the necessity to put the
country back to work. On the other hand, Habib Essid's experience in security
affairs meets a second need – the need to fight terrorism.
"However, choosing Habib
Essid as head of government raises some perplexities. The first one is that he
does not belong to Nidaa Tounes. An important sector of party supporters wanted
the prime minister to be chosen from among the party leaders. They consider
that [the choice] should derive from the electoral results and that if the
majority of the people elected [Nidaa Tounes people], it was for them [i.e.
Nidaa Tounes] to govern. Moreover, the party might have to pay the expenses of
a policy to whose formulation it did not contribute. On the other hand, the
choice of an independent figure contributes to calming [the political
environment] and to building up a better consensus around the governmental
team. Furthermore, Habib Essid has worked previously with Beji Caid Essebsi and
with Hamadi Jebali, which means that he is well known by both Nidaa Tounes and
Ennahdha, the two main political forces in the country. While awaiting the
completion of the assembly of the government team, the figure of Habib Essid
appears to be consensual.
"Another question mark raised by Habib Essid's appointment concerns
his career record. In fact, he was minister of the Interior under Beji Caïd Essebsi
and during this period some social protests were violently repressed. [Also]
his record as advisor on security, under Hamadi Jebali, raises some questions
since, during that period, the assassination of Chokri Belaid took place...
"As stated by Mohamed
Ennaceur, interim president of Nidaa Tounes, Habib Essid was chosen for 'his
independence and his experience particularly in the fields of security and
economics and also in consideration of the positions he had held in the highest
echelons of the State. Clearly, the security aspect played a favorable role in
the nomination of Mr. Essid to helm the Tunisian government.
"According to the
declarations of several politicians, Habib Essid's nomination to the
premiership was favorably received. In fact, Zied Laadhari, Ennahdha's official
spokesperson, said, 'We favorably accept Habib Essid's nomination and we are
ready to work with him.' Mohsen Hassen, leader of the Free Patriotic Union
party, welcomed the fact that his party had been consulted before the designation
of Mr. Essid, and added that [Essid] is a consensual figure with a great
experience in the fields of security and economics. The only negative point
came from the Popular Front, which was not consulted for this designation and
which underlined the fact that Habib Essid had belonged to the Ben Ali regime.
Zouhair Maghzaoui observed that Habib Essid constitutes a meeting point between
Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes and added that the [final] judgment would be based on
the governmental activities, not the people.
"The challenges to be
confronted by the next government are huge, and the issues to be dealt with are
many. The choice of a tough man expert in security affairs might reveal itself
as wise for this period. However, this firmness may be a double-edged sword
when he has to deal with trade unions or [to introduce] the painful economic
reforms which are coming up. Habib Essid might well be the man for the job;
however, for the moment, the questions that he raises are more numerous than
the certitudes that he brings. At a turning-point in the country's history, the
responsibilities that Habib Essid must carry upon his shoulders are immense."
PM Essid's New Government Excludes
Ennahda
Other parties have declared that they will not grant confidence to the new government. Among them are the leftist Popular Front party and the liberal party Afek Tounes, both excluded in the government.
Official Ennahda statement. Statement by Ennahda. Source: Facebook.com/Nahdha.International?fref=nf, January 25, 2015.
APPENDIX I: Beji Caid Essebsi: A Choice
Of Stability And Wisdom – Mohamed Salah Kasmi, Kapitalis
(Tunisia), December 22, 2014
"A Consolidation Of The Newborn Democracy In Tunisia"
"...After
having won the second round of the presidential elections, Mr. Caid Essebsi, a
comrade and former minister of Habib Bourguiba, confirmed that his star is
rising in the Tunisian political arena.
"The
duel that everybody was waiting for finally took place. The winner was not
elected by a narrow margin but by a considerable majority, as anticipated by
the exit poll... He obtained 55.50% of the votes. His opponent, Moncef Marzouki,
suffered a stinging defeat, by getting 44.50% of the votes.
"In
an article titled 'Beji Caid Essebsi on the royal road,' published by Kapitalis
on November 24, 2014, I wrote: 'The election of the president of the Republic
is directed by the results of the first round which allows to anticipate what
is going to take place on the second round.' The election of Mr. Caid Essebsi
on December 21, 2014 seems to confirm this analysis.
"Mr. Caid Essebsi's victory illustrates
the astounding efficiency of Nidaa Tounes, the performance of its electoral
apparatus, and the support of the progressive and democratic parties and
associations for his election. It also exposes the weakening of the Islamist
camp, led by Ennahda, which supported Mr. Marzouki, although unofficially. The
latter [Marzouki] could also count on the support of the
militants of the League for the Protection of the Revolution (LPR), who were
disbanded but who are still active, as well as of certain extremist elements of
the Salafist nebula.
"This
victory changes the political arena in the sense of a vital balancing and of a
consolidation of the newborn democracy in Tunisia. The country voted against
sectarianism, populism, division and mediocrity and in favor of stability,
competence, wisdom and credibility.
"This
victory is very valuable for democracy and it [represents] a new hope for a
people, who love freedom and justice. It is also a sign of political maturity
and of total engagement on the path of democratic transition, of stability and
of national reconciliation.
"Right
after his enthronement at Carthage palace, the new president of the republic
will appoint a prime minister, whose task will be to form a new government
within the delay of one month, [a delay] that can be renewed only once,
according to Article 89 of the Constitution.
"Due
to a very fragmented political landscape, it will be necessary to form a
coalition government. [In fact] no party has the force to form a majority by
itself. The parties of the progressive camp must agree on a common program
about the reforms to be carried out. This is a tough test for the democratic
transition and for the cohesion of the democratic camp."
Respect For The Motto
Of The Republic: Freedom, Dignity, Justice And Order
"In
order to have a successful change, long-awaited by the Tunisians, it is
necessary to remain committed to the four virtues engraved on the emblem of the
Republic: Freedom, Dignity, Justice and Order. [These are] four moral principles
which describe by themselves a project for a society and for a common future.
Each element balances the others. Freedom without dignity, without justice and
without order means everyone for himself and the law of the strongest. Freedom
remains a pillar for democracy. Freedom without order means anarchy. Freedom
without justice means an inequitable society. Liberty without dignity is
meaningless since there will be no collective mobilization in favor of the
disadvantaged and of a shared sense of belonging. Dignity represents the force
of social cohesion which we should preserve in this divided Tunisia. Everyone
should express solidarity with the people who are experiencing difficulties,
the unemployed, all the women whose rights are threatened, and all suffering
children.
"The
key to the success of our country resides in national cohesion, steadfastness
in actions, the implementation of sustainable reforms, and the mobilization of
all Tunisians for establishing the Rule of Law and ensuring security, justice,
economic prosperity, social progress, and living well together."
*A. Mahjar-Barducci is Research Fellow for North
African Studies at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] Isie.tn/wp-content/uploads, December 29, 2014.
[2] MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No.1078, Pan-Arabist
Ideology In The New Tunisian Constitution, March 26, 2014.
[3] The Assembly of the Representatives of the
People replaced the Constituent
Assembly.
[4] Isie.tn/resultats/resultats-legislatives/.
[5] Kapitalis (Tunisia), December 23, 2014.
[6] Kapitalis (Tunisia), October 30, 2014.
[7] MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No.774, Tunisia
after the Elections - Part I: A Guide to Interpreting the Elections Results,
December 16, 2011.
[8] MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 968, Tunisian Interim
President Moncef Marzouki - 'The Invention Of A President, The Illusion Of A
Democracy', May 10, 2013.
[9]France24.com, December 3, 2014.
[10]France24.com, December 3, 2014.
[11] Kapitalis (Tunisia), November 9, 2014.
[12] Kapitalis (Tunisia), December 23, 2014.
[13] According to French political scientist
Maurice Duverger, who invented the term "semi-presidential system,"
the system is: The president is directly elected by the people; said president
possesses serious measures of authority and influence over the workings of the
governmental system; and there are also a prime minister and government
ministers who are tied to the parliament, and who possess executive
authorities.
[14] Kapitalis.com/media/TunisianConstitutionEnglish_27012014.pdf.
[15] Kapitalis (Tunisia), November 9, 2014.
[16] Business News (Tunisia), April 20, 2014.
[17] Tunisia-live.net/whoswho/beji-caid-essebsi-2/.
[18] France24.com, December 3, 2014.
[19] Books.google.co.il/books/about/Habib_Bourguiba.html?id=HaouAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y.
[20]
Webmanagercenter.com/magazine/idees-et-debats/2014/11/15/156894/tunisie-elections-2014-je-suis-plus-jeune-d-esprit-que-ceux-qui-me-critiquent-beji-caid-essebsi-suite-et-fin.
[21]
Webmanagercenter.com/magazine/idees-et-debats/2014/11/15/156894/tunisie-elections-2014-je-suis-plus-jeune-d-esprit-que-ceux-qui-me-critiquent-beji-caid-essebsi-suite-et-fin.
[22] Business News (Tunisia), January 5, 2015.
A. Mahjar-Barducci is Research Fellow for North African Studies at MEMRI.
Source: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8407.htm
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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