TUNISIA - Marginalising The Islamists & Other Opposition.

On the political front, the radical Islamists stand virtually no chance of developing a power base. This was done in two ways. One was to bring in elements of Islam that were compatible with the government's view of how the Tunisia should develop on the socio-economic level. The other was to marginalise the radicals through political means, and if that failed, by a security crackdown. Thus, in effect, the government has gradually but effectively undermined the Islamists on their own ground by giving symbolic powers to Islamists in key religious organisations and thus co-opting them, by appealing to the religious orientations of the general public, etc.

By the late 1980s, the Ben Ali regime had provided the Islamists with the opportunity to have a seat at the High Islamic Council in charge of religious affairs, to take part along with all political forces in authoring the National Pact that set the general basic principles for any political activity, to participate in the legislative election of April 2, 1989, and to see the legalisation of their Tunisian Students' General Union and their newspaper Al Fajr. In addition, the regime set a new religious policy that promoted Islam as a major element of national identity, signs of openness to the conservative groups, took actions to reinforce religious observances, gave Al Zaytouna University back its traditional autonomy, reintroduced the call for prayer in the mass media, and created the Centre for Islamic Studies in 1989.

None of this translated into real political power for the Islamists. On the contrary, the ruling Rassemblement Constitutionnel Democratique (RCD, or Constitutional Democratic Assembly) has consolidated its position to the level that it is unchallengeable. The RCD won all seats in the Chamber of Deputies in 1989, and won all of the directly elected seats in the 1994 and 1999 elections. But constitutional amendments in those years provided for the distribution of additional seats to the opposition parties in 1999. At present five opposition parties share 33 of the 182 seats in the Chamber.

There are at present six legal opposition parties, the Social Democratic Movement (MDS), the Popular Unity Party (PUP), the Union of Democratic Unionists (UDU), Ettajdid (also called the Renewal Movement), the Social Liberal Party (PSL), and the Democratic Progressive Party (PDP), which is the only one not represented in the Chamber of Deputies. Most parties are in line with the basic economic and social policies of the government but are critical of the pace of democratisation in the country - and tend to focus the political activities on supporting pan-Arab Arab causes. The parties are generally weak and divided and face considerable restrictions on their ability to organise. In addition, they have also been negatively impacted to some extent by restrictions that have been put in place mainly to target the Islamists.

On May 26, 2002, a referendum approved constitutional changes proposed by Ben Ali. The constitutional reforms envisaged in the referendum, including the removal of limits to presidential terms, allowed President Ben Ali to nominate himself for a fourth term of office in 2004. The previous text of the constitution limited the number of terms of offices to three. The reforms also increased the age of eligibility for nomination to Presidency from 70 to 75, effectively allowing Ben Ali another two terms in office; he was then 65 years old. About 5.3 million Tunisians cast their votes at 15,000 voting centres spread across the country. Voters had just to say "Yes" (white card) or "No" (black card) on the proposed amendments.

In terms of electoral practice, Ben Ali is no different from most other Arab rulers. In presidential elections held on Oct. 24, 1999, he won with a sweeping percentage of 99.44%. It was the first contested elections in the country. Ben Ali also agreed to have international observers at the polls. Challengers to the president received 0.31% in the case of Popular Unity Party leader Mohamed Belhaj Amor) and 0.23% in the case of Unionist Democratic Union leader Abderrahmane Tlili. The rate of voter participation was 91.4%, according to the government.

Tunisian officials respond to critics of the political system by saying the nation's concept of basic human rights consists of ensuring that all citizens have access to food, clean water, health facilities, education and the opportunity to fully realise their potential. As such, the regime is watchful to see that regressive political tendencies (like Islamist militancy) do not surface under the guise of human rights, democracy, etc. To prevent any possibility of giving the Islamists a platform, freedom of expression is tightly restricted in the country.

Even the spread of the Internet, which radical Islamic groups are increasingly using to spread their ideas, is heavily regulated by the government. Tunisia has enacted internet-specific legislation banning encryption without prior authorisation, for instance, and requires Internet service providers to give information to the authorities about their clients. The problem with this approach is that secular parties are also affected by such regulations, and power is concentrated heavily in the hands of the ruling RCD. This situation is not likely to change in the foreseeable future, barring any sudden change in the leadership.