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Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

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Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
زين العابدين بن علي
President of Tunisia
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 November 1987
Prime MinisterHédi Baccouche
Hamed Karoui
Mohamed Ghannouchi
Preceded byHabib Bourguiba
Prime Minister of Tunisia
In office
2 October 1987 – 7 November 1987
PresidentHabib Bourguiba
Preceded byRachid Sfar
Succeeded byHédi Baccouche
Personal details
Born (1936-09-03) 3 September 1936 (age 88)
Hammam-Sousse,  Tunisia
Political partyRDC
SpouseLeila Ben Ali

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Template:Lang-ar Zayn al-‘Ābidīn bin ‘Alī), (born 3 September 1936) is an aging dictator who has acted as the President of Tunisia continuously since 7 November 1987 [1] [2] [3], [4] [5] [6] [7]. Previously a military figure, he took power from President Habib Bourguiba by a bloodless coup, after serving briefly as Prime Minister. He leads an authoritarian regime in the guise of a procedural democracy. In the Economist's 2008 Democracy Index Tunisia is classified as an authoritarian regime ranking 141 out of 167 studied countries (worse than The Peoples Republic of China, Egypt, Sierra Leone and Pakistan).

The day of his succession, 7th of November, is celebrated by the state as national holiday, with many public buildings and even the national currency, the state television and the only private airline and TV station (both owned by the family of the President's wife) all carrying the '7 November' logo. The state cultivates his personality cult. On a daily basis newspapers run eulogistic articles praising the President whose picture appears in the first page on a daily basis, often alongside similar articles and pictures of his wife, Leila [1]. Large pictures of President Ben Ali and 'spontaneously' erected banners praising him are found on all public buildings and majors streets. The new international airport is named after the sitting president too. [2]

The rubber stamp parliament repeatedly passes laws that make it appear democratic to outsiders. Since 1987, Tunisia has formally reformed its political system several times. It has theoretically abolished life presidency and opened up the parliament to opposition parties. In reality, however, all power is monopolized formally by the President and his party - which incidentally is housed in Tunis's tallest tower - and informally by influential families such as the all powerful Trabelsis from the President's wife's side, Leila, a former coiffeuse. [3][4][5][6]Recently Tunisia refused a French request for the extradition of two of the President's nephews, from Leila's side, who are accused by the French State prosecutor of having stolen two mega-yachts from a French marina [7]

According to Amnesty International " the Tunisian government is misleading the world as it conveys a positive image of the human rights situation in the country while abuses by its security forces continue unabated and are committed with impunity" [8]. Reporters without borders includes Ben Ali in the list of 'Enemies of the Internet' together with the leadership of North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan [9] [10].

The President's party, known as the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) in French, is composed of about 2 million members and more than 6000 representations throughout the country and is largely overlapping with all important state institutions. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Arabic: زين العابدين بن علي‎ Zayn al-‘Ābidīn bin ‘Alī), (born 3 September 1936) is Tunisia’s second President since independence. According to the terms of the Tunisian Constitution, he succeeded to President Habib Bourguiba [1] who had become too-old to govern, after serving briefly as Prime Minister. He leads today a moderate Arab nation considered to be a leading emerging country with an impressive track record despite limited natural resources. According the 2010 Davos World Economic Forum report, Tunisia ranks first in Africa in terms of competitiveness. Tunisia has also been selected as the best Arab country in terms of standard of living and the African country that “is mostly at peace” [2]

Every 7th of November is celebrated by the people of Tunisia as the “Day of the Change”, in reference to the day, President Ben Ali succeeded to President Bourguiba. [3] Since that transition, President Ben Ali has established a working democratic system with includes nine political parties five of which are represented in Parliament. All political parties, including two radical opposition formations, publish their own newspapers where their express their views freely. Along with a national public broadcasting system [4], there are two private TV channels (Hannibal Tv and Nessma Tv) and two private radio channels (Radio Mosaique and Radio Jawhara) with great popular appeal.

Tunisia is one of the best connected countries in Africa, with schools and colleges having all access to the Internet.The latest ranking issued by Akamai’s “State of the internet Report” ranks Tunisia among the top African countries when it comes to internet connection speed , internet penetration and broadband adoption , with a connection speed of more than 5 Mbps. The 9th Global Information Technology Report rankeed Tunisia 1st in Africa. [5]

Social policies implemented by Ben Ali drove the poverty rate in the country to less than 4% and consolidated the middle class, which is spanning today more that 80% of society, an unparalleled ratio in the Arab world. The National Solidarity Fund which Ben Ali launched to fight poverty in the country [6] has been so successful that it he has inspired the UN General Assembly to vote a unanimous resolution creating a World Solidarity Fund [7] built around the Tunisian poverty eradication model.

Economically, Tunisian economy has registered a robust growth rate hovering around 5% for the last 20 years. This record of achievements has compelled American renounced columnist to describe Tunisia as a “country that works”. [8]

The President's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) [9], is composed of about 2 million members. The party has managed to win the majority of votes in all legislative elections since independence because of its role as the party of liberation from French occupation and then as the party which has led the post-independence state-building effort.

Work as President

Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Rally (formerly Neo-Destour party) continues to dominate the national politics. In 1999, although two alternative candidates were permitted for the first time to stand in the presidential election, Ben Ali was reelected with 99.66% of the vote. He was again re-elected on 24 October 2004, officially taking 94.48% of the vote, after a controversial constitutional referendum in 2002 which allowed him to seek reelection.

Following calls from his own political party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, for him to run again in the 2009 presidential election, Ben Ali said at a party congress on 30 July 30 2008 that he would stand for re-election as the party's candidate.[8]. Unfortunately, there is little critical reporting (some in French, see Le Monde) and almost nothing in English that challenges Ben Ali's claims of promoting democracy. [11] On October 25, 2009, he was re-elected for a fifth term with an overwhelming 89 percent of the vote.[9]

Freedom of the press is officially guaranteed and condoned. However, human rights organization Reporters Sans Frontieres states that "Tunisians have no access to independent news in the local media and the press, radio, TV and the Internet is under the president’s control. Journalists and media are actively discouraged from being more independent by means of bureaucratic harassment, advertising boycotts and police violence."[10]. Ben Ali has particularly targeted internet activists creating forums for discussion and dissent, the most notable cases of these are Zouhair Yahyaoui and the Zarzis Affair.[11]

Many political prisoners remain in jails or in exile in and out of the country. Many disappearances, deaths and torture cases have been reported by human rights organisations. Many arrests are a result of individuals venturing into the internet to bypass government propaganda and controlled press.[12] Ben Ali introduced a law that exonerates him from future prosecution and thus gave himself an amnesty.

Family

Ben Ali was first married to Naima Kefi, the daughter of General Kefi, Tunisia's first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and had three daughters (Ghazwa, Dorsaf and Cyrine); he divorced her in 1992 and married Leila Trabelsi - a former hairdresser - whom he met when he was President Habib Bourguiba's minister of the Interior. With her, he has two daughters (Nessrine and Halima) and a son (Mohamed Zine El Abidine) who was born in 2004 (source: Encyclopedia of the Orient at [12]).

In its January/February 2008 issue, the Foreign Policy Magazine reported that Tunisia's First Lady had been using the 737 Boeing Business Jet[13] of the government to make "unofficial visits" to European Fashion Capitals, such as Milan, Paris and Geneva. The report mentioned that the trips are not on the official travel itinerary. Bloggers tracked the official airplane on spotting webpages as Airliners.net. The first lady has been described as a shopaholic.[14][15] The Trabelsi family controls much of the business sector in the country.

Rumors have been circulating that Ben Ali's son-in-law Sakher al-Materi (the husband of Zine and Leila's daughter Nessrine) is being primed to eventually take over the country. As of October 2009, he has used family privileges and connections to create a place for himself in the country's economy, and is making his political debut. [13]

References

  1. ^ http://www.lapresse.tn/pdf/la_une_pdf/2010-02-02_une.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ http://www.oaca.nat.tn/news_eng.htm
  3. ^ http://www.instablogs.com/leila-ben-ali/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Beau, Catherine Graciet (2009)). La régente de Carthage: Main basse sur la Tunisie. Paris: Editions La Decouverte. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  5. ^ http://www.bakchich.info/La-regente-de-Carthage-main-basse,08817.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ http://www.tunisiawatch.com/?p=504. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ "Ajaccio - Un trafic de yachts entre la France et la Tunisie en procès" (in French). 30 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Tunisian president to seek re-election", Reuters (IOL), July 30, 2008
  9. ^ De Montesquiou, Alfred (2009-10-26). "Tunisian president wins 5th term in landslide". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-10-26.
  10. ^ Reporters sans frontières - Tunisia
  11. ^ http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10915
  12. ^ Tunisia: Free Jailed Website Moderator (Human Rights Watch, 16-3-2006)
  13. ^ Picture of the official plane http://www.airliners.net/photo/Republic-of-Tunisia/Boeing-737-7H3-BBJ/0485035/L/
  14. ^ Foreign Policy Magazine. Jan/Feb 2008. page 104
  15. ^ Story Online http://www.foreignpolicy.com/users/login.php?story_id=4090&URL=http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4090
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Preceded by Prime Minister of Tunisia
1987 		Succeeded by
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