POLITICS OF PARITY: GENDERING THE TUNISIAN SECOND REPUBLIC, 2011-2014 Zoe Petkanas Sidney Sussex College 1 June 2018 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. i PREFACE This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or is being currently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University of similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. Parts of Chapters Three and Four were based on work I submitted for my MPhil at the University of Cambridge. ii iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the women and men of Tunisia who so graciously and patiently spent many hours with me during this monumental period of political transition. I would like to thank my research assistant, Achraf Ayadi, whose tireless commitment, strategic thinking, and infectious laughter made this project possible. I would also like to thank Issrar Chamekh for her endless help, support, and friendship. This project would not have been possible without the funding of the Cambridge Commonwealth, European, and International Trust and Sidney Sussex College. I’d also like to thank: my parents, Xena Petkanas, Zac Petkanas, Lizzie Presser, Paolo Heywood, Naveena Kottoor, Déborah Perez, Sandro Lutyens, Anne Wolf, Laryssa Chomiak and Le Centre d’Etudes Maghrébines à Tunis, Roxane Farmanfarmaian, Meera Sabaratnam, Maha Abdelrahman, Lou Cantwell, Sarah Scire, Christopher Petkanas, Steven Presser and Diane Archer, Charlie Cadby, Amie Anderson, Patrick Metzger, and Ben Scott. I would also like to thank my examiners, Michael Willis and Véronique Mottier. Finally, I would like to extend a special thank you to my supervisor George Joffé, whose calm confidence brought me to the finish line. iv v NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION Language from the Constitution is transliterated according to IJMES guidelines, as it is written and pronounced in Modern Standard Arabic. Names, political parties, organisations, and terms in Arabic follow spelling conventions popularly recognised in Tunisia. Since spelling sometimes differs across sources, some quotations will include variations from the text, e.g., Ennahdha in text versus ‘Al-Nahda’ or ‘Enahdha’ in quotations. Differences that impede understanding will be accompanied by an explanatory footnote. Terms transliterated from Arabic or translated from French are italicised for the first usage. Per IJMES guidelines, names of political parties or organisations are not italicised. Arabic words that are used in English are spelled according to common usage and are not italicised. vi vii CHARTS AND TABLES 6.1: PARTIES AND IDEOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS/LEANINGS, 2011-2014 190 6.2: PARTY AND PARLIAMENTARY BLOC (RE)FORMATION, 2011-2014 191 6.3: SPECTRUM OF SUPPORT/OPPOSITION TO GENDER PARITY POLICIES DURING FOUR GENDER PARITY POLICY VOTES IN 2014 193 7.1: ELECTIONS 2014: PARTIES AND FEMALE-HEADED LISTS 205 viii ix ACRONYMS1 AHDR Arab Human Development Report AFTURD Association femmes tunisiennes pour la recherche sur le développement Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development ARP Assemblée des représentants du peuple Assembly of the People’s Representatives ATFD Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates Tunisian Association of Women Democrats ATIDE Association tunisienne pour l’intégrité et la démocratie des élections Tunisian Association for the Integrity and the Democracy of Elections CECF Club d’études de la condition des femmes Study Club on the Condition of Women CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women CPR Congrès pour la république Congress for the Republic CSE Commission syndicale d’études de la condition de la femme travailleur Union Committee on the Condition of the Female Worker CSP Code du statut personnel Code of Personal Status IRIE Instances régionales indépendantes pour les élections Regional Independent Election Commissions ISIE Instance supérieure indépendante pour les élections Independent High Commission for Elections LET Ligue des électrices tunisiennes League of Tunisian Women Voters LTDH Ligue tunisienne des droits de l’hommes Tunisian Human Rights League MENA Middle East and North Africa MTI Mouvement de la tendance Islamique Harakat al-ittijah al-Islami Islamic Tendency Movement NDI National Democratic Institute NGO Non-Governmental Organisation PDM Pôle démocratique moderniste Democratic Modernist Pole PDP Parti démocrate progressiste Progressive Democratic Party 1 In Tunisia, acronyms are derived from the French name. x PSD Parti socialiste destourien Socialist Destourian Party RCD Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique Democratic Constitutional Rally UGTE Union générale tunisienne des étudiants General Union of Tunisian Students UGTT Union générale tunisienne du travail General Union of Tunisian Workers UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFT L’Union nationale de la femme tunisienne National Union of Tunisian Women UPL L’Union patriotique libre Free Patriotic Union UPT L’Union pour la Tunisie Union for Tunisia UTICA L’union tunisienne de l’industrie, du commerce et de l’artisanat Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts xi TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION VI CHARTS AND TABLES VIII ACRONYMS X TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 ONE: INTRODUCTION 3 RESEARCH CONTEXT AND QUESTIONS 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 6 METHODOLOGY 31 OUTLINE OF DISSERTATION 35 TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 39 THEORISING LIBERALISM AND LIBERAL CITIZENSHIP 39 GENDER QUOTAS AND WOMEN’S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION 44 THE DISCURSIVE AND THEORETICAL TERRAIN OF GENDER QUOTAS 48 ARGUMENTS FOR GENDER PARITY 57 SUBJECTIVATION AND THE RECRUITMENT OF THE SELF AS SUBJECT 61 GENDERED CITIZENSHIP IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA 66 THREE: GENDER AND THE STATE IN MODERN TUNISIAN POLITICAL HISTORY 75 THE ARAB ENLIGHTENMENT 75 THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT 77 FOUNDING OF THE TUNISIAN STATE 79 THE CODE OF PERSONAL STATUS AND THE MODERNISATION PLAN 80 THE FALL OF THE CORPORATIST STATE 85 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUTONOMOUS WOMEN’S MOVEMENT 86 BEN ALI’S BALANCING ACT 93 BEN ALI AND THE ISLAMIST CRACKDOWN 96 BEN ALI, CIVIL SOCIETY, AND THE SECULARIST FEMINIST MOVEMENT 98 FAÇADE DEMOCRACY 100 CONCLUSIONS 102 FOUR: REVOLUTIONARY AFTERMATH AND THE 2011 ELECTIONS 105 GENDER IN THE POST-REVOLUTIONARY DISCOURSE 107 WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION AND TRANSITIONAL INSTITUTIONS 109 GENDER PARITY: ORIGINS AND IMPLEMENTATION 112 WOMEN AND POLITICAL PARTIES 116 WOMEN, CAMPAIGNS, AND THE ELECTORAL FIELD 122 THE GENDERED IMPACT OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE 127 CONCLUSIONS 129 1 FIVE: CONSTITUTIONAL DRAFTING PROCESS 2012-2014 131 INTRODUCTION 131 SECULARIST-FEMINIST DISCOURSE: VIGILANCE 131 ANCHORED IN HISTORY AND IDEOLOGY 132 ENNAHDHA: MODERATE ISLAM? 135 FORMATION OF LE GROUPE DES FEMMES 151 GENDER AND THE 2014 CONSTITUTION OF THE TUNISIAN SECOND REPUBLIC 152 CONCLUSIONS 160 SIX: ELECTORAL LAW, FEBRUARY-MAY 2014 163 INTRODUCTION 163 THE CASE FOR GENDER PARITY 164 THE CASE FOR HORIZONTAL PARITY 168 THE CONSTITUTION AND ELECTORAL LAW 170 ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST HORIZONTAL PARITY IN COMMISSION 173 ARTICLE 23: COMMISSIONS TO ASSEMBLY 177 ARTICLE 23 IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: WOMEN ON TOP? 180 ARTICLE 23 VOTE: THE POLARISING SANCTIONS 188 CONCLUSIONS 200 SEVEN: ELECTIONS 2014 203 METHODOLOGY 203 2014 ELECTORAL SYSTEM 204 CONSTRUCTING THE 2014 CANDIDATE LISTS 206 THE LACK OF FEMALE-HEADED LISTS 210 DEMAND-SIDE REASONS 212 GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN POLITICAL PARTIES 217 SUPPLY-SIDE REASONS 223 SPARK, WEIGHT, AND NOTABILITY 227 ENNAHDHA’S FEMALE INCUMBENTS 229 DOES HORIZONTAL PARITY MATTER? 233 CONCLUSIONS 238 EIGHT: CONCLUSIONS 241 REFERENCES 247 INTERVIEWS CITED 247 PRIMARY SOURCES 253 SECONDARY SOURCES 263 2 ONE: INTRODUCTION RESEARCH CONTEXT AND QUESTIONS On 17 December 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi, a 27-year-old fruit seller, poured paint thinner over his head and self-immolated in front of a municipal building in Sidi Bouzid, sparking mass popular protests across the country. Tunisian men and women of all ages, across classes, and around the country flooded the streets chanting ‘Dégage, Ben Ali!’—‘Get out, Ben Ali!’— and calling for justice, dignity, and bread. Thirty-two days later, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled, ending his 27-year regime and 58 years of authoritarianism in Tunisia. As the uprisings spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Tunisia became known as the birthplace of the ‘Arab Spring’.2 Ten months later, on 23 October 2011, millions of Tunisians lined up to cast their votes for the National Constituent Assembly, the body tasked with drafting the country’s new Constitution of the Second Republic, in the first free and fair elections in Tunisia’s history. Almost immediately after Ben Ali and his family fled the country, gender politics and women’s rights came to dominate the public discourse, despite the fact