Tunisia used to be the only democracy to have arisen from the 2011 Arab Spring, but has been in turmoil in recent years. Although the 2011 ‘Jasmine Revolution’ had toppled the corrupted Ben Ali regime that was in power since 1989, the new administration remained unable to lift Tunisia from its economic woes. At first, the new political set-up was perceived legitimate, and the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet was hailed in accommodating Tunisia’s path to democracy. In latest years, public support for the post-2011 setup deteriorated, mainly due to it’s incompetence to improve Tunisia’s economic position.
In July 2019, Tunisia’s first democratically chosen president Beji Caid Essebsi passed away. Kais Saied became his successor after a landslide victory at the 2019 parliamentary polls. Since then, the socio-economic situation has been worsening, and demonstrations against incumbent parties over the bad handling of the coronavirus pandemic, corruption and government dysfunction are ongoing.
On July 25, 2021, Saied suspended parliament, dismissed PM Mechichi and ended immunity for parliamentarians. Tunisia is in a process of democratic backsliding ever since and Saied is de facto ruling by presidential decree. He took control over the judiciary and electoral commission and under his rule, security forces repress civil activists, journalists and parliamentarians. Saied also appointed the first female PM, Najla Bouden, in September 2021. Her appointment seemed rather symbolic, as she holds no effective power without a functioning parliament.
The president got authority over the government and judiciary and is the head of the armed forces. He is also allowed to fire and appoint ministers and judges and may draft laws, treaties and state budgets. Tunisian President Kais Saied has solidified his one-man-rule, by officially dissolving parliament, seizing control of the electoral commission, and enshrining his power through the referendum.
The National Salvation Front, a faction of Tunisia’s main opposition parties, had called for boycotting the country’s elections in December 2022. And in October 2022, thousands of protesters marched the streets of Tunis, denouncing President Kais Saied’s slow move towards authoritarianism. In January 2023, thousands of protesters have marched against the seizure of near total power by President Saied, demanding he steps down. In February dozens of public figures who were critical of the president, including politicians, protest organizers, lawyers, judges, union officials, the head of an independent radio station and business leaders, were arrested in often violent night-time raids. He also attacked the judicial system by firing dozens of judges. This has led to protests across the country due to growing fears of a return to autocracy.
Tunisian revolution
The current political situation in Tunisia is the result of the popular unrest that erupted in the first half of 2011 after a young man set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid on 17 December 2010. Before the popular uprising and Tunisia’s legislative elections of 2011, the country underwent a long period of authoritarian rule. The frustration of the man concerning the high unemployment rate, living conditions, the economic situation and annoyance with the ruling elite was shared by many Tunisians. Demonstrations occurred around the country for weeks and resulted in the ouster of President Ben Ali on 14 January 2011. Fouad Mebezaa, the speaker of the Tunisian parliament, was sworn in as the country’s interim president on 15 January and on 17 January a new government was formed by Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi. It is said that over 338 people were killed during the Tunisian uprising.
Lack of a constitutional court
Between the 2011 revolution and President Saied’s seizure of extraordinary powers in 2021, elected officials took steps to institutionalize an independent judiciary. Legislation adopted in 2016 established the High Judicial Council (HJC), a body tasked with ensuring the independence of the judiciary and appointing a third of the Constitutional Court judges. Council members were elected that year by thousands of legal professionals. However, governments and lawmakers repeatedly failed to establish the Constitutional Court as envisioned by the 2014 constitution; its role would have been to evaluate the constitutionality of decrees and laws. The absence of such a court became especially problematic in 2021, as there was no authoritative mechanism for assessing the constitutionality of Saied’s emergency measures. While the new constitution preserved both an HJC and a Constitutional Court in name, it granted the president final authority over judicial appointments following nominations by the HJC, whereas the 2014 charter had made the HJC’s appointment recommendations binding on the executive. In addition, the new constitution removed a clause of the 2014 constitution that granted the Constitutional Court authority to rule on the extent of the president’s power.
Saied’s “self-coup”
Events really unfolded on July 25, 2021, when President Saied dismissed Mechichi and ended the activities of the Tunisian Assembly under Article 80 emergency powers under the constitution. Saied said to take this decision after fierce protests against Ennahda, economic problems and an enormous surge in coronavirus cases that had rocked the country’s fragile healthcare system. Political parties in the Assembly reacted furious to Saied’s actions to suspend parliament and asked their supporters to rally against Saied. In response to the fierce protests, Saied imposed a month-long curfew from 26 July onwards. On 24 August 2021, Saied said to extend the period of “extraordinary measures” until further notice, which stopped in late August 2022. Meanwhile, various activists and journalists were arrested and prosecuted for comments against Saied, starting a period of severe crackdown on civil society in Tunisia. From 25 July onwards, Saied started ruling by presidential decree, completely sidelining Tunisia’s parliament.
President Saied has defended his actions by saying that they are needed to address a crisis of political paralysis, economic stagnation, and a poor response to the coronavirus pandemic. He has promised to uphold rights and not become a dictator. Nevertheless, critics are sceptical of these promises, and domestic pressure has been mounting.
On 22 September, Saied signed a decree that gave him extensive presidential powers, such as directly making changes to Tunisia’s constitution and parliament, giving him the power to dissolve parliament. Meanwhile, the crackdown on Tunisia’s civil activists and post-2011 institutions continued. Two prominent members of parliament, Faycal Tebbini and Seifeddine Makhlouf, were jailed and the freedom of various judges was severely restricted. The repression on journalists has been severe. After July 25, arbitrary detention, judicial prosecution and illegal censorship has been documented widely. On September 29, Saied appointed Najla Bouden as Tunisia’s new PM and gave her the mandate to form a new government. Bouden is the first female PM in Tunisia and the Arab world. On October 11, a new administration commenced under her lead. The Bouden-administration seemed largely symbolic, as legislation cannot pass the suspended parliament.
Recent protests
In February 2023, thousands of trade unionists held protests across the country over the worsening economic woes and the arrest of top union official, Anis Kaabi. In March, dozens of public figures, including politicians, protest organizers, lawyers, judges, union officials, the head of an independent radio station and business leaders, were arrested in often violent night time raids. This has led to protests across the country during growing fears of a return to autocracy. The police arrested dozens of prominent members of the opposition, most of whom have ties to the coalition of parties and protesters who protested. The arrests have included politicians from Ennahda, the largest party in the now-closed parliament, leaders of a protest group, the head of Tunisia’s main independent media and a prominent businessman. The regime has justified these actions by accusing those arrested of various crimes, including manipulating the market, creating food shortages and conspiring against the state. The Saied government is thus explicitly trying to blame critics for Tunisia’s poor economic state.
In April the crackdown continued with the arrest of opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, who is a fierce critic of President Kais Saied. He got sentenced to a year in prison on charges of incitement, which stems from a funeral speech he gave last year for a member of his Ennahda party where he said the deceased “did not fear a ruler or tyrant, he only feared god.” He is also accused of plotting against state security along with other detained opposition figure who accuse Saied of a coup for shutting down the elected parliament and moving to rule by decree. In late May, a Tunisian judge opened a new investigation into political figures on suspicion of conspiring against state security. The 20 people accused in the new case include the main opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, former prime minister Youssef Ghahed and Saied’s former chief of staff Nadia Akacha. The list also includes a former mayor of a Tunis district, a former military officer and a freelance journalist.
In August 2023, Prime Minister Najla Bouden was fired without explanation and replaced by former central bank executive Ahmed al-Hachani. Bouden was the first women to head a government in Tunisia. No official explanation was given for her dismissal, but several Tunisian news outlets reported about Saied’s displeasure over shortages, particularly the lack of bread in state-subsidised bakeries. Bouden’s government was not able to make progress on the economy and prices of basic commodities like bread, sugar and rice skyrocketed.
2022-2023 parliamentary elections
On December 17, parliamentary elections were held in Tunisia. The elections followed months of political crisis after Saied suspended parliament on July 25, 2021. The parliamentary elections was boycotted by most of the opposition. Voter turnout was extremely low, around 8,8%. The elections were announced by President Saied in December 2021, after he had implemented emergency measures and suspended parliament earlier that year. Since, Saied has solidified his one man-rule, by officially dissolving parliament, seizing control of the electoral commission, and enshrining his power through a constitutional referendum.
In September 2022, Saied announced changes to the electoral law that reduced the importance of parties in parliament. This meant that voters could only cast their ballot for individual candidates, rather than for a part. In addition, Saied diminished the powers of parliament and expanded his own powers in the constitutional referendum in July. The National Salvation Front, a faction of Tunisia’s main opposition parties, had called for boycotting the elections. The Front accused Saied of carrying out a coup. According to Ahmed Neijb Chebbi, the head of the alliance, the elections were held under supervision of a body that is “not neutral and loyal to the ruling authority.”
In most districts, candidates did not secure an electoral victory. Therefore, runoffs were held on January 29 2023. In the elections, 1.058 candidates were running for 161 seats. Following record-low voter turnout, estimated at 8,8%, in the first round of the parliamentary election, Tunisian voters returned to polling stations for the run off. The second round showed an increase in voter turnout of only 3,6%.
The Parliament is meant to have 161 members, compared with 214 in the previous parliament. But only 154 candidates were elected in the two-round legislative ballot, due to vacancies in seven electoral constituencies designated for Tunisians living abroad, where no candidates presented themselves for election, reflecting widespread disillusionment with the political system.
Presidential elections
On September 15th 2019 Tunisia held the first round of the presidential elections, followed by a second round on October 13th 2019. This was the second presidential election after the 2011 revolution. The election was originally planned on the 17th and 24th of November 2019, but because of the death of incumbent president Beji Caid Essebsi on the 25th of July, they were moved. According to the Tunisian constitution, a new president has to take office within 90 days because any interim president is only allowed to sit for that amount of time.
In the first round, independent candidate Kais Saied came in first out of 26 candidates, of which two were women. Saied was a newcomer to Tunisian politics but received more than 18% of the votes. Before the revolution, Saied was involved in academics but nevertheless became a well-known media figure through his comments on constitutional and legal issues after the fall of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He gained a huge following online, especially among young people, for his spontaneity, sincerity and comfort with public speaking that distinguished him from the traditional stereotype of politicians.
The runner up in the first round of the election was Nabil Karoui of Qalb Tounes (also known as Heart of Tunisia party) who ran his campaign from prison. Karoui was arrested on August 23rd on charges of corruption and money laundering. Before the first round of the election, the Assembly of Representatives (Tunisia’s legislative branch of government) passed an amendment to the law that prohibited candidates with a criminal record, as well as those who run charitable organizations or received foreign funding for political advertising in the year preceding an election, from running for president. The amendment caused a lot of controversies and a motion was filed by several political parties that called the move unconstitutional.
However, outgoing president Essebsi failed to ratify the legal amendment before he died which made it possible for Karoui to form the ‘Heart of Tunisia’ party and run for president, after all, winning nearly 16% of the votes. In third place, Ennahda’s candidate Abdelfattah Mourou came in a full five points behind Saied. The winner of the 2014 legislative elections, the Nidaa Tounes party, was completely absent from the presidential election after the death of former president and Nidaa Tounes founder Beji Caid Essebsi. After Essebsi’s death, the leaders of the party and its supporters all dispersed.
The second round of the election saw Saied and Karoui go head to head. Saied won by receiving 72.7% of the votes. Voter turnout was estimated at 55%. The Sigma polling institute determined that 90% of young people between 18 and 25 voted for Saied, compared to the 49.2% of voters over 60. The election day itself went by without any incidents, but despite that national and international observers reported that there were problems with the transparency and the integrity of the electoral contest. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), who held a joined international election observation mission in Tunisia, for example, reported that they had concerns about candidates’ level of media access as well as about the coverage of the electoral campaign.
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