Despite what is going on in many different states in the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and against western stereotypes driven from orientalist ideas,
the small state of Tunisia in North Africa constitutes a solid proof that democracy and the rule of law can flourish in the area. Nevertheless, the remarkable progress of the country on democratization and the rule of law is being threatened by multiple factors that require immediate action from the international community to assist and preserve these achievements.
From Colonialism to Authoritarianism
Tunisia, a country of significant geostrategic importance due to its position in the center of the Mediterranean was once a vital trade hub that has been conquered from the Romans, the Ottomans and from the French in 1881 (BBC, 2020). Even under French occupation the country hosted one of the most progressive societies of the Arab world and adopted the first constitution (Destour) as early as of 1861. In 1956, in the beginning of the decolonization era, France withdrew from the country and Tunisia gained its independence (BBC, 2017). That same year, Habib Bourguiba, a self-professed nationalist and secularist rose into power and established an one-party state, similar to its neighbors, that survived until 1987. Despite its authoritarian rule, Bourguiba promoted secularism, acknowledged the rights of women and reduced illiteracy (Holthaus, 2019). Nevertheless, in 1987, the Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali overthrew President Bourguiba in a bloodless coup d’état and ruled the country for the next 24 years. Ben Ali’s regime adopted significant economic reforms and helped Tunisia to experience remarkable economic growth. During 1990s the country experienced a median growth of 5% a year and the national GDP more than quadrupled from 10 billion US dollars in 1987 to 45 billion US dollars in 2011 (IMF, 2021). This growth also improved the per capita income from $2,713 USD in 2005 to $3,720 by 2010 and the regime also took measures to diversify the economy from an agrarian to a services-based one (Tran, 2018). However, the economic benefits of this success were not distributed equally and the Tunisian transition began with socio-economic pretests ahead of demands for democracy (Holthaus, 2019).
The Leader of a Revolution
In December of 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, after his self-immolation, became the national symbol of the “Jasmine Revolution” that would force Ben Ali to step down from power and would spark protests all around MENA in the early 2011 that would later be characterized as the “Arab Spring”. In January Ben Ali, like many other neighboring strongmen, stepped down of power and fled into exile in Saudi Arabia (BBC, 2017). That year, the country experienced a rapid political transition to democracy (Grewal, 2019). In December, the human rights activist Moncef Marzouki was elected president by the constituent assembly, which under the first freely elected Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali, was responsible to draft the new constitution of the country. After protests concerning the place of women in the new republic and tensions with Salafists and extreme jihadists, the parliament passed the new constitution in January of 2014 (BBC, 2017). According to Grewal (2019, p. 2), “the 2014 constitution is progressive even by western, enshrining not only freedom of religion but also conscience (permitting atheism) and mandating not just gender equality but an active commitment by the state to ensuring it”. The same year the secularist party Nidaa Tunes won the parliamentary elections and its candidate Beji Caid Essebsi became president (BBC, 2017). However, during the presidency of Essebsi the country faced a number of different problems, from numerous terrorist attacks that targeted tourists and led to a significant loss of income from the tourism industry, to the adoption of strict austerity measures to repay loans from the International Monetary Fund that the country had taken in 2012 (BBC, 2020). Thus, the dire economic situation and the extensive phenomena of mismanagement and weak institutional capacity had been at the epicenter of the presidential and parliamentary elections that were held in October 2019. In these elections the religious Ennahda party (similar to the Turkish AKP) came up first without absolute majority and the independent retired law professor Kais Saied won a landslide victory and became the president of Tunisia (BBC, 2020). Even if Saied has been criticized for his conservative views on homosexuality, women’s rights and capital punishment, his campaign, based on an anti-corruption platform, appealed directly to young voters and expressed the dissatisfaction of the Tunisian people for the difficult economic and political situation.
Preserving the Democratic Momentum
Today Tunisia remains the most westernized society in the Arab world apart from Lebanon, due to its strong middle class that maintains strong links with Europe (Karagiannis, 2018). It is also one of the few Arab countries where women have been active in the political life. However, the country faces many problems in consolidating democracy. Both major parties, Ennahda and Nidaa Tunes, promote the interests of their members and lack long-term socio-economic policies. Phenomena of corruption, clientism and economic mismanagement are also widespread throughout the country (Holthaus, 2019). At the same time Salafi parties are equally active in the current democratic system even though they are still marginal (Karagiannis, 2019). Nevertheless, the biggest problem of the country is its complex economic situation which has worsened during the Covid- 19 pandemic. According to the IMF (2021), the national GDP plummeted by 8.8% in 2020 and the inflation rose up to 5.8% (in 2011 it was 3.2%). One third of the youth remains unemployed and the income of the much needed tourism industry has almost vanished (Laghmari & Karam, 2021). For this reason the country experienced a number of protests in January of 2021 that led to many arrests, especially of young people (BBC, 2021). Henceforth, in order to acquire some financial liquidity the government is currently negotiating another loan agreement with the IMF that would be signed within the next three months (Laghmari & Karam, 2021).
Nevertheless to sustain and preserve the significant progress, the international community and regional actors must act immediately and efficiently to respond on the challenges of Tunisia. Even if countries like the US, Germany and regional organisations like the European Union have provided much needed support to the country, studies show that the abundant international funding and aid cannot compensate for the regression of the Tunisian economy and the declining foreign direct investment (Holthaus, 2019; Bassoti, 2017). Ergo on the one hand the European Union has to strengthen its financial assistance and aid to Tunis and support the institutional capacity of the country in order to answer to the hardships of its people. On the other hand the US, via the IMF, could play a vital role offering loans and other financial assistance without dictating a strict austerity policy and the complete removal of subsidies that hurt the most vulnerable and delegitimize the government. Finally, Tunisia could also enhance military cooperation with NATO and with other European countries to combat smuggling of migrants and terrorist insurgencies, creating via this way a safe environment for a prosperous economy. In a region where authoritarianism or state failure constitute the norm, the west and especially the EU must aid the effort of Tunisia to consolidate its democratic system, the rule of law and the liberal democratic values.
References
Bassoti, G. 2017. Did the European Union Light a Beacon of Hope in North Africa? Assessing the Effectiveness of EU Democracy Promotion in Tunisia. College of Europe.
Grewal, S. 2019. Tunisian democracy at a crossroads. Brookings
Holthaus, L. 2019. Is there difference in democracy promotion? A comparison of German and US democracy assistance in transitional Tunisia. Democratization, 1–19.
Karagiannis, E. 2018. The rise of electoral Salafism in Egypt and Tunisia: the use of democracy as a master frame. The Journal of North African Studies, 1–19.
Laghmari, J. and Karam, S. 2021 May 5. Tunisia Sees IMF Deal Within Three Months as Proposals Presented. Bloomberg. Retrieved in 2021 June 5, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-05/tunisia-expects-imf-deal-within-3-months-finance-minister-says
Tran, E. 2018 September 18. Tunisian Success: An Economic Analysis. International Review. Retrieved in 2021 June 5, from https://international-review.org/tunisian-success-an-economic-analysis/
Tunisia country profile. 2020 September 3. BBC. Retrieved in 2021 June 5, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14107241
Tunisia profile – Timeline. 2017 November 1. BBC. Retrieved in 2021 June 5, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14107720
Tunisia youths warned over riots amid Covid curfew. 2021 January 20. BBC. Retrieved in 2021 June 5, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55733224
Tunisia. 2021. IMF. Retrieved in 2021 June 5, from https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/TUN#countrydata
By Mahmoud Refaat: The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
