An ageing autocrat stifles opposition as the European Union shuts its eyes
Jul 29th 2010
THE government of Tunisia must do more to uphold human rights and the rule of law and to allow political pluralism if the country is to win “advanced-partner status” to give it cosier relations with the European Union (EU). That, at any rate, is the view of Tunisia’s bravest human-rights campaigners who, earlier this summer, badgered officials in Spain, which then held the EU’s rotating presidency. The Spaniards duly raised the issue in Brussels.
This annoyed Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (pictured), who has ruled Tunisia since 1987 with virtually no opposition. But far from bowing to such pressure, his parliament passed an amendment to the penal code’s section on espionage, adding a clause that anyone deemed to “harm Tunisia’s vital interests” must go to prison for at least five years. Just to be sure, officials made clear that this includes the crime of “inciting foreign parties not to grant loans to Tunisia, not to invest in the country, to boycott tourism or to sabotage Tunisia’s efforts to obtain advanced-partner status with the EU.”
Mr Ben Ali, nearly 74, often boasts of running a stable, modestly prosperous, well-educated country, with the Arab world’s most liberal legislation for women’s rights. But democracy is another matter. After his election to a fifth term in October, with 90% of the vote, his fist got tighter than usual. Amnesty International says that dissidents are held in dire conditions; those still free are constantly harassed. According to the human-rights body, security agents infiltrate opposition groups to take control of them, stifling open politics. Moreover, according to a book published last year in France but banned in Tunisia, Mr Ben Ali’s family and influential wife, Leila Trabelsi, own a number of lucrative monopolies that hamper the free market.
The press is weak too. The state filters the internet, often confiscates editions of newspapers that dare publish dissident views, and jails independent journalists such as Fahem Boukadous, who was sentenced this month to four years in prison for reporting worker unrest in the mining region of Gafsa in 2008. That provoked a rare rebuke by the American State Department, which said it was “deeply concerned about the decline of political freedoms.”
By contrast the EU, apparently under pressure from France and Italy, which both have close ties to Tunisia, has kept quiet. Advanced-status negotiations continue
*Tunisia's durable president
One-man show
Another meaningless election
Oct 29th 2009
THERE were no surprises at the polls on October 25th. President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was re-elected for a fifth five-year term with 90% of the vote. Not bad—although surely something of a let-down after previous results in 1989, 1994 and 1999 when he got 99%. The slump began in 2004, when the president got a mere 95%.
Despite the opposition gaining a further five percentage points, the election results can hardly be described as a step towards democracy. Since he took power in 1987, Mr Ben Ali and his Constitutional and Democratic Union party have kept a firm grip. Though the constitution originally limited the presidency to two terms, Mr Ben Ali has twice amended it to let himself stay on. Opposition is rigorously controlled; the only candidates allowed to run against Mr Ben Ali were the leaders of parties authorised by the Constitutional Council, an institution close to the ruling party. Ahmed Brahim, the only candidate critical of the regime, won just 1.6% of the vote.
The press is mute. Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based watchdog, ranks Tunisia’s press as one of the world’s least free. Many journalists who cheek Mr Ben Ali or his regime have been beaten, imprisoned, sued or intimidated. Naziha Rejiba, editor of a banned newspaper, Kalima (“The Word”), says her office was ransacked and locked, her telephone tapped and her e-mails blocked.
But Western governments tend to keep Mr Ben Ali sweet. For one thing, he is tough on anti-Western jihadists. In Paris and elsewhere Tunisia is widely viewed as stable. Its economy has grown steadily. It is open to Western business, liberal on trade and has attracted a lot of foreign investors. Exports, especially of textiles and motor components, three-quarters of them to Europe, now account for 47% of GDP. Tourism is booming, too.
So the country gets good sovereign-risk ratings from agencies such as Standard & Poor’s. The Swiss-based World Economic Forum ranks Tunisia as Africa’s most competitive country. Ordinary Tunisians’ lives have improved, with income per head doubling in real terms since 1990. Women enjoy better rights than do many of their north African counterparts.
Investors’ biggest concern is not to step on the toes of the ruling family. Leila Ben Ali, the president’s second and current wife, has long promoted the interests of her Trabelsi clan. Most prominent is her brother, Belhassen Trabelsi, and her son-in-law, Muhammad Sakher el-Materi, both of whom she fiercely protects. A new book by two French journalists which unravels Tunisia’s business web was banned in the country this month. Mrs Ben Ali tried in vain to have it banned in France too.
It is uncertain whether Mr Ben Ali, 73 and not in the pink of health, will run yet again in 2014. The constitution says candidates must be between 40 and 75, though another amendment could doubtless be made. Mr Materi is mooted as a possible successor. Party bigwigs, ambitious generals, rich businessmen and banned political parties may all start sniffing for opportunities as the old man begins to age. But his reign is by no means over yet
Jul 29th 2010
THE government of Tunisia must do more to uphold human rights and the rule of law and to allow political pluralism if the country is to win “advanced-partner status” to give it cosier relations with the European Union (EU). That, at any rate, is the view of Tunisia’s bravest human-rights campaigners who, earlier this summer, badgered officials in Spain, which then held the EU’s rotating presidency. The Spaniards duly raised the issue in Brussels.
This annoyed Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (pictured), who has ruled Tunisia since 1987 with virtually no opposition. But far from bowing to such pressure, his parliament passed an amendment to the penal code’s section on espionage, adding a clause that anyone deemed to “harm Tunisia’s vital interests” must go to prison for at least five years. Just to be sure, officials made clear that this includes the crime of “inciting foreign parties not to grant loans to Tunisia, not to invest in the country, to boycott tourism or to sabotage Tunisia’s efforts to obtain advanced-partner status with the EU.”
Mr Ben Ali, nearly 74, often boasts of running a stable, modestly prosperous, well-educated country, with the Arab world’s most liberal legislation for women’s rights. But democracy is another matter. After his election to a fifth term in October, with 90% of the vote, his fist got tighter than usual. Amnesty International says that dissidents are held in dire conditions; those still free are constantly harassed. According to the human-rights body, security agents infiltrate opposition groups to take control of them, stifling open politics. Moreover, according to a book published last year in France but banned in Tunisia, Mr Ben Ali’s family and influential wife, Leila Trabelsi, own a number of lucrative monopolies that hamper the free market.
The press is weak too. The state filters the internet, often confiscates editions of newspapers that dare publish dissident views, and jails independent journalists such as Fahem Boukadous, who was sentenced this month to four years in prison for reporting worker unrest in the mining region of Gafsa in 2008. That provoked a rare rebuke by the American State Department, which said it was “deeply concerned about the decline of political freedoms.”
By contrast the EU, apparently under pressure from France and Italy, which both have close ties to Tunisia, has kept quiet. Advanced-status negotiations continue
*Tunisia's durable president
One-man show
Another meaningless election
Oct 29th 2009
THERE were no surprises at the polls on October 25th. President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was re-elected for a fifth five-year term with 90% of the vote. Not bad—although surely something of a let-down after previous results in 1989, 1994 and 1999 when he got 99%. The slump began in 2004, when the president got a mere 95%.
Despite the opposition gaining a further five percentage points, the election results can hardly be described as a step towards democracy. Since he took power in 1987, Mr Ben Ali and his Constitutional and Democratic Union party have kept a firm grip. Though the constitution originally limited the presidency to two terms, Mr Ben Ali has twice amended it to let himself stay on. Opposition is rigorously controlled; the only candidates allowed to run against Mr Ben Ali were the leaders of parties authorised by the Constitutional Council, an institution close to the ruling party. Ahmed Brahim, the only candidate critical of the regime, won just 1.6% of the vote.
The press is mute. Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based watchdog, ranks Tunisia’s press as one of the world’s least free. Many journalists who cheek Mr Ben Ali or his regime have been beaten, imprisoned, sued or intimidated. Naziha Rejiba, editor of a banned newspaper, Kalima (“The Word”), says her office was ransacked and locked, her telephone tapped and her e-mails blocked.
But Western governments tend to keep Mr Ben Ali sweet. For one thing, he is tough on anti-Western jihadists. In Paris and elsewhere Tunisia is widely viewed as stable. Its economy has grown steadily. It is open to Western business, liberal on trade and has attracted a lot of foreign investors. Exports, especially of textiles and motor components, three-quarters of them to Europe, now account for 47% of GDP. Tourism is booming, too.
So the country gets good sovereign-risk ratings from agencies such as Standard & Poor’s. The Swiss-based World Economic Forum ranks Tunisia as Africa’s most competitive country. Ordinary Tunisians’ lives have improved, with income per head doubling in real terms since 1990. Women enjoy better rights than do many of their north African counterparts.
Investors’ biggest concern is not to step on the toes of the ruling family. Leila Ben Ali, the president’s second and current wife, has long promoted the interests of her Trabelsi clan. Most prominent is her brother, Belhassen Trabelsi, and her son-in-law, Muhammad Sakher el-Materi, both of whom she fiercely protects. A new book by two French journalists which unravels Tunisia’s business web was banned in the country this month. Mrs Ben Ali tried in vain to have it banned in France too.
It is uncertain whether Mr Ben Ali, 73 and not in the pink of health, will run yet again in 2014. The constitution says candidates must be between 40 and 75, though another amendment could doubtless be made. Mr Materi is mooted as a possible successor. Party bigwigs, ambitious generals, rich businessmen and banned political parties may all start sniffing for opportunities as the old man begins to age. But his reign is by no means over yet
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