Category Archives: Tunisian revolution

• Arab Awakening, • Pro-Democracy Movements in the Middle East, Arab Spring, Constituent Assembly - Tunisia, Elections in Tunisia, News & Current Events, Revolution in the Arab world, Revolution in the Middle East, Tunisia, Tunisian revolution

Tunisia Elects New Interim President

On Monday December 12, 2011, Tunisia’s new assembly elected a leading human rights activist as the country’s first democratically elected president. Moncef Marzouki became the country’s first interim president in the country that sparked the “Arab Spring” nearly one-year ago this week.

(Former doctor and human rights campaigner Moncef Marzouki waves to the media at the constituent assembly in Tunis December 12, 2011)

Marzouki, of the Congress for the Republic Party, won 153 out of 217 votes in the country’s new parliament, with three votes against, two abstentions and 44 blank ballots in protest.

The election of the interim president follows the weekend approval of temporary bylaws to guide the nation until the assembly finishes a constitution.

It also comes less than two months since elections and nearly one-year after Tunisians overthrew their longtime dictator Ben Ali – an uprising that sparked similar movements in other Arab states.

كلمة المرزوقي عقب أدائه اليمين

 

• Arab Awakening, • Pro-Democracy Movements in the Middle East, Arab Spring, Archives, Constituent Assembly - Tunisia, Elections in Tunisia, Revolution in the Arab world, Revolution in the Middle East, Tunisia, Tunisian revolution

Tunisia’s ‘Second Republic’ تونس الجمهورية الثانية

 Inaugural Session of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly

الجلسة الافتتاحية للمجلس الوطني التأسيسي

The newly elected Constituent Assembly held its inaugural meeting Tuesday, 22 November, 2011 and began the yearlong process of shaping the constitution and the democratic future of the country that sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.

Hundreds of people protested outside Parliament, demanding everything from women’s rights and reforms to limits on foreign influence over Tunisia’s affairs.  Within the body’s chambers the new opposition attempted to flex its wings and challenge the majority coalition.

The assembly elected Mustapha Ben Jaafar, Ettakatol party president, as its speaker and in future sessions he will nominate a president who will appoint a prime minister to form a new government. Maya Jribi, leader of the left of center Progressive Democratic Party, ran against him, but was beaten 145 votes to 67.

Tunisia’s new assembly holds “historic” first session

Tue, Nov 22 2011

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s constitutional assembly, elected after a revolution that inspired the “Arab Spring” uprisings, held its opening session on Tuesday, described by officials as an historic step toward democracy.

The assembly, which will sit for a year to draft a new constitution, is dominated by a moderate Islamist party whose election win last month resonated in other countries in the region where Islamists are gaining ground after the popular protests which swept three Arab heads of state from power.

Members of the assembly, senior officials in the incoming coalition government, and ministers in the outgoing cabinet stood for the Tunisian national anthem in a ceremony to open the 217-seat assembly.

“This is an historic moment .. for the transition to democracy,” Fouad Mebazza, the outgoing interim president, said at the ceremony, in the same building where the previous rubber-stamp parliament sat before the revolution.

There was a reminder of the challenges facing Tunisia’s new rulers, when about 1,000 protesters gathered outside the building.

Among them were relatives of people killed in the revolt that ousted veteran president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who are now demanding compensation from the state.

The protesters included the mother of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young vegetable seller who set himself on fire last December in an act of protest that triggered the revolution.

Demonstrators held up placards saying “We want justice!” and “The people want a new revolution.”

A man called Slim Hamdi, 28, said he and the other protesters were there to send a message to the new authorities. “We are not going to leave you in peace if you do not take the right path,” he said.

Tunisia’s government will be dominated by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which emerged from the election with the biggest contingent in the assembly, but short of a majority.

Its victory was the first for Islamists in the Arab world since the Hamas faction won an election in the Palestinian Territories in 2006.

Tunisian secularists say their liberal values are under threat, but Ennahda has assured them it is not planning any radical changes.

Ennahda has shared out the top three state posts with two smaller, secularist parties. Hamadi Jbeli, Ennahda’s secretary general, will be prime minister, the most powerful role.

Moncef Marzouki, head of coalition partner the Congress for the Republic, will have the largely ceremonial post of Tunisian president. Mustafa Ben Jaafar, leader of the Ettakatol party, was nominated as speaker of the new assembly.

A new cabinet line-up, with posts shared out between the three coalition partners, is to be announced soon.

In its first act, the assembly voted to confirm Ben Jaafar as speaker.

He received 145 votes, four members abstained, and 68 voted for the rival candidacy of Maya Jribi, of the secularist PDP party. Her party warned Islamist rule will undermine Tunisia but performed poorly in the election.

Mohamed Abbou, an official with Marzouki’s party, said the new government was aware of the weight of expectation from Tunisians who want to see their new democratic freedoms matched by more jobs and higher wages.

“This moment is the dream of all Tunisians,” he said. “We say to the protesters: ‘Do not worry, we are not going to neglect your demands’.”

• Arab Awakening, • Pro-Democracy Movements in the Middle East, Arab Spring, Constituent Assembly - Tunisia, Elections in Tunisia, Revolution in the Arab world, Revolution in the Middle East, Tunisia, Tunisian revolution, Uncategorized

Tunisian Elections, 2011

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TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisians queued in their hundreds to vote in their first free elections on Sunday, basking in their status as democratic trail-blazers nine months after their revolution sparked the Arab Spring. “The turnout of Tunisians exceeded all expectations,” elections chief Kamel Jendoubi told journalists five hours into voting, adding the final rate “may exceed 60 percent”… The European Union hailed Tunisia’s elections and vowed support for the new authorities, while British Prime Minister David Cameron said: “As the first country in the region to put democracy to the test at the polling booth, Tunisia is once again leading the way.”…

Tunisian Elections – Live Updates – Tunisia Live

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Tunisia’s Elections for A Constitutional Assembly

The campaign for the first elections born of the revolts that swept the Middle East began in Tunisia on Saturday, 1 October. It features 81 political parties (out of more than 115 recognized parties) which will be competing in the election to make up 785 electoral lists; another 676 lists are composed of independent candidates. They’re competing for 217 seats. It is expected that those elected will then have a year to write a constitution to dictate how Tunisians will govern themselves before elections for a parliament will be held.

Voters Online Guides  (about Candidates and Parties)

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TuniVote “Aims to Help Voters Understand Parties, Tunisia’s best fixers” A new interactive platform for voters to better know the political parties running for the elections. The web site is designed to address the questions of whom to vote for, why, and how to tell the difference between Tunisia’s numerous political parties.

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Elections 2011 Ajidoo.com

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Nchoof.org | عينك على بلادك

Nchoof.org, launched on Sunday (October 2nd), enables Tunisians to present their complaints of malpractice during the electoral campaign and vote counting. The Citizenship Alliance for Elections Monitoring, which comprises associations “My Voice”, “Political Awareness” and Internet Society Tunisie (ISOC), developed the initiative.

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ikhtiyo_enIkhtiarTounes New Tool for Undecided Voters

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Arab Spring, Constituent Assembly - Tunisia, Elections in Tunisia, News & Current Events, Reference, Tunisia, Tunisian revolution

Constituent Assembly Elections in Tunisia, 23 October, 2011

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Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, 2011

One of the earlier demands of  demonstrations following the 14 January, 2011 revolution that ousted the Tunisian dictatorship (and the resignation of the first interim government) was the formation of a Constituent Assembly. On 3 March, 2011, Tunisia’s interim government announced that an election for a Constituent Assembly would be held on 24 July, 2011. The Assembly will have 218 members including 19 seats reserved to Tunisians living abroad; its main task is to write a new constitution that would pave the way for legislative and presidential elections. It will also decide whether the country gets a presidential or parliamentary system, and whether a separation of religion and state becomes law. Once elected, the Constituent Assembly will have the power to either immediately appoint a new government or extend the current one’s term–which lasts until the general elections scheduled for 23 October, 2011. (Senior party members of the disbanded former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (aka RCD, fr.) will be banned from standing in the election if they were in politics within the last ten years.)

The election date, however, had been a source of contention between major political players. On 22 May 2011, the head of the country’s newly formed Independent High Electoral Commission (aka ISIE, fr.) suggested a delay to 16 October, 2011, because more time was needed to prepare electoral lists, including putting  millions into the new electoral database, and renew over 400,000 old identity cards. Negotiations between the varying political parties, the High Commission for the Realization of the Revolution’s Goals, the Electoral Commission and the interim government followed. Also, many recently formed political parties* say they need more time to prepare. The elections were finally postponed to 23 October, 2011. (For in-country voters holding a valid state-issued ID voting is a one-day event, 23 Oct.; out-of-country voters holding a valid passport vote starting Oct. 20 until 23 Oct.). The date was the result of several weeks of negotiations between political groups.

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On Monday (July 11th) voter registration for the October elections began; Tunisians have until Tuesday (August 2nd) to register to vote.** A voter registration drive More than 2,000 people were trained to assist in the registration process and the overall number of voters is expected to reach 7.9 million (of the ca. 10 million Tunisian population.)

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Because of low rate of voter registration, the Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE) extended the deadline to August 14th communique-30-07-20111[1].  communique-30-07-20111[1]The closing date was previously set for August 2nd. However, registration will continue through October 12th for servicemen and members of the security forces, youths turning 18, voters whose ban on participation is lifted, and for Tunisians returning from overseas.

As of August 14th the percentage of registered voters on the electoral lists reached 55% of eligible voters.

From August 20th through August 26th, lists of voters would be posted at the commission’s regional offices, municipal headquarters, and at diplomatic and consular missions for Tunisian residents abroad.

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*There are currently more than 100 recognized and officially sanctioned political parties in Tunisia. And although electoral campaigning will officially take place between 1 and 21 October, political parties have been making use of commercials to promote their image and activities. Polls show that the Nahda party (Islamist) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) are the two largest and most well-known who will snap more votes in the upcoming election.

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**Tunisian Constituent Assembly Elections – Why and How?

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POLL SAMPLES:

Conducted/
Published		 Polling Organisation/Client Sample size Nahda PDP Ettajdid FDTL POCT
March, 2011 ANSAmed 1,012 29.0% 12,3% 7.1% – –
July, 2011 3C Etudes ? 14.3% 4.7% – 1.6% 0.8%
July, 2011 Al Jazeera 1,244 21.0% 8.0% – – 5.0%

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PARTY RALLIES:

حزب العمل الوطني الديمقراطي = Party of National Democratic Action (socialist: Hizb al-‘Amal al–Watani al–Dimuqrati; French: Parti du travail patriotique et démocratique, PTPD) [ July, 2011 (2mins.)]

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حركة النهضة = The Renaissance Party or Nahda (Islamist: النهضة Hizb al-Nahda, also Hizb Ennahda, Ennahdha; French: Parti de la Renaissance; Mouvement Ennahda, ME) [ July, 2011 (1.21min.)]

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احركة الوطنيين الديموقراطيين = The Movement of the Patriots Democrats (Marxist / Pan-Arabist Arabic: Harakat al-wataniyun al-dimuqratiyun; French: Mouvement des patriotes démocrates, MOUPAD) [ July, 2011 (2.28mins.)]

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The following information is provided by the Project on Middle East Democracy:

Elections in Tunisia:

The 2011 Constituent Assembly

Frequently Asked Questions

Middle East

(Middle East and North Africa International Foundation for Electoral Systems
| Washington, DC 20006 | www.IFES.org
13 July 2011)

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Tunisia Prepares for October 23 Elections

Yesterday, the IFES released a report detailing Tunisia’s new election process which started July 11. Elections will take place on October 23, 2011 for in-country voters holding a valid state-issued ID and will begin October 20 for out-of-country voters holding a valid passport. Currently, the transitional government in Tunisia is comprised of interim president Fouad Mebazaa, prime minister Beji Caid el Sebsi as well as a cabinet.

The October 23rd elections will allow voters to elect representatives to the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) which will have one year to draft a new constitution; 199 members will be from Tunisia and 19 representing Tunisian expatriate countries in Europe and North America, totaling 218 members.

The current structure of governance includes a system of decrees and decree-laws [which are drafted by the Tunisian Higher Commission for the Achievement of the Objectives of the Revolution and the Democratic Transition (Political Reform Commission)*, and then signed by the president]. Decree-laws include but are not limited to:

  • No. 4 (3/23/2011): outlines provisional division of government authority
  • No. 27 (4/18/2011): establishes and defines the Instance Supérieure Indépendante pour les Élections (ISIE)
  • No. 35 (5/10/2011): outlines the election process

Also, the reports articulates the electoral system; it will follow a closed-list proportional representation system which requires that 1/2 of representatives be female and the other 1/2 male. Also, 27 domestic constituencies and four out-of-country constituencies are established.

Important dates include the following:

  • July 11-August 2: voter registration
  • September 1-7: candidate registration
  • October 1-21: electoral campaigning
  • October 23: election day

According the report, there are 7 million domestic and 1 million abroad that are of voting age. Expected voter turnout is approximated at 90-95%. However, only 43% polled knew “what they are voting for”. The ISIE launched a campaign on July 11th to advertise elections and introduced a new website to inform voters of the election process, candidates, and voting rules.

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*Arabic: الهيئة العليا لتحقيق أهداف الثورة والاصلاح السياسي والانتقال الديمقراطي ou al-hayʾat al-ʿalyā li-taḥqīq ʾahdāf al-ṯawrah wal-aṣlāḥ al-siyāsī wal-intiqāl = French: Instance supérieure ou Haute instance pour la réalisation des objectifs de la révolution, de la réforme politique et de la transition démocratique.

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Arab Spring, Archives, Blog, News & Current Events, Reference, Tunisia, Tunisian revolution

Tunisian Revolution 6 Months Later

Firsthand Account on Some Recent  Developments

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The Tunisian Revolution* is for real! There is a profound change in the country at all levels: Social, regional, institutional, sectarian, etc.  For the first time in anyone’s memory, people can talk, argue, and disagree vehemently. You really can write anything you want. You can also say anything you want and talk to anyone you want. People encounter one another in public meetings or political rallies and discover they have much in common (there are more than 100 mostly new political parties so far and counting–in a country of nearly 10 million residents).

There’s, however, wide-spread chaos and lawlessness throughout the country (and the fine line between chaos and normalcy is impossible to locate!). Yesterday, the main highway to the Cap-Bon region was blocked by tomatoes farmers protesting government imposed tariffs and prices for their produce. The army and police special forces were present there but only to prevent violence … We had to take a detour of a couple of hours through another province and many rural dirt roads to get to our destination. Similar scenes take place daily all over the country, in addition to sit-ins, street marches and demonstrations and strikes …

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Roadblock by tomato farmers in Cap-Bon, northeast Tunisia, on 6 July, 2011 and following days
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The Tunisian political classes were as surprise by their Revolution as anyone else. Many discussions about the constitution, the legal system, the economy, etc. have yet to be held, and will take time. There are no electoral laws, no electoral rolls. As yet there is no legitimate government, only a provisional one, and thus no clear mandate for reform. The longer it takes for real change to occur the greater the chance for disappointment, discontent, disorder and chaos and even counter-revolution. Nobody ever joins an uprising to resume business as usual.

The strange thing about post-revolutionary Tunisia is: Almost everything is still the same. The provisional caretaker government, in charge until elections can be held, includes elder statesmen who have been around for decades. Many of the same figures still run the same ministries as they did under the old regime. The police are less omnipresent but they are still there (actually, they are extremely polite now, something never seen before in Tunisia! I was told many were terrified to be accused of killing or torturing people during and before the revolution).

Tunisians began the Arab Spring. In order to sustain their hard-won democracy, they must deal with resurgent Islamists (diverse groups!), unemployment, a struggling economy and many other challenges.

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*Foreign media regularly call the Tunisian Revolution “The Jasmin Revolution.” No one here calls it that! It’s the “Freedom and Dignity Revolution.”
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Interior Ministry (e.g., Internal security), July 2011

Demo in Front of the Interior Ministry [.52 sec.]

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Government Plaza at Kasba in Tunis

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Graffiti against previous dictator Ben Ali and his wife
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“How beautiful Tunisia is without Ben Ali Baba and the 40 Trabelsi thieves (ref. to the dictator’s ‘familiy’)”

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Interior Ministry, Tunis

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Bourguiba Avenue / Porte de France & French Embassy, Tunis

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On January 22nd the new Tunisian government lifted licensing restrictions on the importation of books, publications and film. Books and publications that were once confiscated by the Border Police are now making their way to bookstores. Extreme censorship on the imported book has strangled intellectuals – both writers and readers – and in the absence of freedom, one cannot talk about creativity. In previous years, the Tunisian International Book Fair earned a poor reputation because of strict censorship imposed on imported works, forcing exhibitors to focus on cookbooks and fiction. In the end, many just didn’t bother to attend the fair. The number of the new publications having obtained receipts reached as of July, 2011, 148 publications, which notably include daily, weekly, bimonthly and monthly publications.

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National Library, Tunis

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National Archives, Tunis

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Al-Kitab Bookstore in downtown Tunis, one of the most famous in the country. All kinds of titles, previously censored under the dictatorship, are now available, mainly  in Arabic and in French.
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Book sale at a rally of a new political party

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Used book seller on a Tunis street
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(Roadblock by tomato farmers in Cap-Bon, northeast Tunisia, on 7, 6 2011 and following days)(Roadblock by tomato farmers in Cap-Bon, northeast Tunisia, on 7, 6 2011 and following days)