STUDIES & African Perspectives ARTICLES

Presidential and Legislative Elections in

Amira Abdel Razek Khalil PhD Researcher- Cairo University The formation of the Tunisian government, headed by crowned the transitional period which Tunisia had passed through after the outbreak of the Jasmine Revolution and the overthrow of former President on the 14th of January, 2011. After the escape of Ben Ali, Tunisia en- tered a new transitional period in which the as- pired to achieve freedom and social justice, while the political forces sought after taking hold of a prominent position in the Tu- nisian political system. Meanwhile, many issues concerning the future of the country emerged and need to be handled in order to achieve such hopes and aspirations. Despite the large number and complexity of these issues, the political disagreements took more attention instead. Therefore, the political forces varied in their dynamics of dealing with each other and in their interaction with the demands of the popular forces that passed through several periods until they developed and united their final demands. Af- terwards, it has been agreed on the necessity to go back to the zero point, and launch a new period by a new constituent Assembly to which the people of Tunisia shall, through ballot, appoint the re- sponsibility of building and legislating the future. Later, after the Constituent Assembly elections, the Council carried out three main tasks, namely the constituent, the legislative, and the facilitative matters required for the second transitional period. First, the constituent tasks are represented in setting a new constitution which shall guarantee the rights as well as freedoms, define the relationship between Ruler and Subject and the nature of the political system, maintain the constitutional independ- ence of Judiciary, Separate between powers, and establish the principles of 14 January Revolution. Second, the legislative task is represented in setting all the laws that the country needs during its second transitional period to organize the political, economic and social life and others. Third, the facili- tating tasks are represented in the appointment of the interim President of the Republic, who formed the transitional government several times for the management of national affairs until the preparation of the new constitution

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is complete. elected president, and a new govern- Also, the political and partisan ment. map in Tunisia, after the revolution, First: Legislative Elections included many political powers and The Legislative elections were held currents, salient of which is the po- in Tunisia on 26 October last year, litical current represented in where a group of parties with differ- Ennahda Party which is considered ent trends competed. The number of as the most organized party that had election lists reached about 1327 the most influence in directing the (1230 inside Tunisia and 97 outside political system in Tunisia during the country). These lists were dis- the transitional period. This made tributed among 33 constituencies (27 the people think that the political inside Tunisia and 6 outside the system in Tunisia will incline to- country). These were the second leg- wards the Islamic system, but actu- islative elections after the revolution. ally it proved the opposite with the While the first were the Constituent first legislative elections due to the Assembly elections in 2011 in which special characteristics of the Tuni- adopted mod- sian community and its secular and ernist and secular terms and visions leftist political powers, in addition to that were strongly rejected by all the regional context and its conse- other Islamic movements all quences. through. This enabled Ennahda Later, the Constituent Assembly Movement to win 40% of the seats in did finish setting the new constitu- the Constituent Assembly, to form tion for the country, and thus ending the government and to participate in such transitional period which wit- power as a main actor. While the nessed a lot of challenges and legislative elections in 2014 resulted changes that altered the features of in the formation of a new political the political map since it paved the map in Tunisia due to a large num- way for new players to emerge and ber of internal and external factors marginalized others. This was em- which contributed to a great extent bodied in the legislative and execu- in reconstituting the political map of tive elections that took place in a . local and regional environment full Election Results of political and economic changes Tunis Appeal and ended the transitional phase to won 86 seats from a total number of start a new period with a new politi- 217 seats in the People's Congress, cal system that includes a new con- followed by Ennahda Party with 69 stitution, a legislative council, an seats, the Party

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with 16 seats, the lion, 579 thousand and 257 voters, with 15 seats, and Tunis Horizons which is equivalent to "more than Party with 8 seats. The remaining 23 70%" of the total number of voters seats are distributed among the registered in voting regulations. other parties and the independent In addition, three influential par- lists. ties will have a significant role in the Chairman of the Independent High political arena and in the game of Electoral Commission said that the alliances, namely the Free Patriotic number of participants in the legis- Union, the Popular Front Party and lative elections amounted to 3 mil- the Tunis Horizons Party,

Percentage The number of parliamentary The party or coalition seats 39.6 % 86 Tunis Appeal 31.8 % 69 Ennahda 4 % Free Patriotic Union 6.9 % 15 The Popular Front 3.7 % 8 Tunis Horizons 10.6 % 23 Other Parties and Alliances 4 % 4217 Total

These elections produced a new parties, some of which were able to political map based on dual- occupy the first rank such as Tunis polarization that seem ideological Appeal Party while others succeeded where the scene is mainly about two in taking hold of advanced positions main blocs; one is conservative rep- after they had been at the back lines resented Ennahda Movement and during the Constituent Assembly the other was founded in 2012 in elections, such as the Free Patriotic order to achieve balance with that Union which occupied the third block. rank and the Popular Front, which The results of these elections re- occupied the fourth rank, and the shaped the political and partisan same to the map in the country. This is repre- which retreated and the number of sented in the rise of new political its members decreased as well. As

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for the so-called intermediate par- announced on Monday evening the ties, namely al-Mu'tamar or 'the winning of in the Congress for the Republic (CPR)', Tunisian presidential elections by Ettakatol or 'the Bloc' and the Re- 55.68% of the vote (1,731,529 votes) publican Parties, they were de- compared to 44.32% of the vote for feated. the benefit of Second: Presidential Elections (1,378,513 votes) in accordance to The Tunisian presidential elec- the decree of the Independent High tions were held in two rounds. In the Electoral Commission issued on 29 first round, 27 candidates, including December, 2014, highlighting that one woman, were competing. Only the gap between the results of the 22 candidates were announced eligi- two candidates is 6 points deeper ble to continue. The other five candi- than that of the first round. dates preferred not to continue in Most of the researchers think the elections for various reasons. that a group of local and interna- The most prominent candidates are tional reasons helped Essebsi to win Beji Caid Essebsi, Mohamed Moncef over Marzouki. Marzouki (who took over the coun- At the local level: try during the transitional period),  The country faced a severe eco- Hamma Hammami (a left-wing mili- nomic crisis since the events of the tant and a staunch opponent of the revolution and the escape of Ben rule of Bourguiba and Ben Ali, and Ali on January 14, 2011. This, in then to the Government of Ennahda return, escalated the crisis of un- after the revolution), Slim Riahi (a employment and high prices that politician and a businessman as well reached its utmost when Ennahda as the founder and the president of movement assumed power after Free Patriotic Union party), and obtaining the majority in the Con- Kalthoum Kannou (the first and stituent Assembly elections in only female presidential candidate 2011. Unfortunately, this resulted in Tunisia who worked as a judge in a political crisis in addition to during the era of Ben Ali). In the the economic crisis which already first round Beji Caid Essebsi ob- exists. Such political crisis divided tained 39.49% of the vote while the country into two parts. On one Marzouki obtained 33.43%. Conse- hand there is 'The ', an un- quently, they both entered a runoff official name for the alliance be- through the second round on 21st of tween the three parties Ennahda, December, 2014 where the Inde- Ettakatol, and CPR that ruled in pendent High Electoral Commission Tunisia after the 2011. On the

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other hand, there are most of the ues of democracy, human rights left-wing and liberal political par- and non-violence, the implications ties. Therefore, Beji Caid Essebsi of the Personal Status Code, the succeeded in making many of equality between man and them join the Tunis Appeal Move- woman, and many others in the ment Party. light of the split positions of its  The escalation of terrorist acts members on these issues, Con- since the beginning of December comitantly, Baji Caid Essebsi in- 2012, after the terrorists have hid- troduced himself and his party for den in the Chaambi Mountains in Tunisians as an alternative to the the Kasserine governorate as well Troika whose name is associated as in the Heights of Kef and Jen- with terrorism. Since that mo- douba governorates on the bor- ment, his popular base began had ders with Algeria. This was fol- expanded bit by bit. lowed by the political assassina-  The significant role of media in tions which deepened the political influencing the will of the Tuni- crisis facing 'the Troika' led by sian people and the attempts of Ennahda, especially after the as- rating Marzouki as the candidate sassination of the leftist opposition of the "Strict" Salafis, besides the in February 2013 outbreak of clashes and exchange and the national opposition leader of accusations between Marzouki in July 2013. and many of the media. Successfully, the opposition par-  The support of some parties to ties managed through various me- Essebsi compared to Marzouki dia to "stick" in the memory of such as the Free Patriotic Union the Tunisian people that 'the Party (liberal) led by the business- Troika' government and the man Slim Riahi, the Popular President-elect by the Constituent Front (leftist coalition) led by Assembly, namely Marzouki are Hamma Hammami. Also, the ex- morally responsible for such acts. plicit opposition of the Free Patri- In addition they highlighted the otic Union to Marzuki is consid- language of struggle ruling the ered as an implicit support to relation between Ennahda and the Essebsi. Moreover, Essebsi also other powers rather than the lan- obtained the support of the parties guage of participation, and its with constitutional reference (the willingness to make a retreat from former regime), such as the Con- earlier commitments as it practi- stitutional Movement led by cally did with regards to the val- and the Constitu-

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tional Initiative led by Kamal before being appointed Prime Minis- Morgan, besides the figures that ter for the post-revolution transi- appeared behind Essebsi at the tional government in 2011. Essebsi conclusion of his electoral cam- joined the New Constitutional Lib- paign. Furthermore, a large num- eral Party when he was a student. ber of businessmen supported After Tunisian independence in Beji Caid Essebsi in his electoral 1956, he served as an advisor to the campaign as well as the Sufis. first Tunisian president, Habib At the International Level Bourguiba. He was later appointed  The bad situation that surrounds regional director of the Ministry of the Arab region, and the deterio- the Interior, and in 1963 he was ap- rating security situation in pointed head of the Administration neighboring countries, especially of National Security. In 1965, countries that witnessed revolu- Essebsi assumed the position of min- tions such as Libya, Syria and ister of the interior, and then minis- , in addition to the tensions ter of national defense during the in Iraq and Yemen . period from 1969 to 1970. He was  The atmosphere of panic created appointed as Tunisian Ambassador by "Daash", also known as ISIS, in then in Bonn, Germany in all over the world and especially 1987. In 1971, all his activities in the most of the Arab peoples who fear Constitutional Socialist Party were its incursion into their countries. frozen for supporting the reforma-  The Gulf support to Essebsi, given tion of the regime before being ex- that some Gulf countries are pelled in 1974. In 1978 he joined the against the idea of the rule of the Movement of Socialist Democrats currents. (MDS) led by Ahmed Mestiri. Con- Consequently, Essebsi became comitantly, Essebsi established a the most appropriate candidate for magazine in French called Democ- the management of the country; racy. On April 15, 1981 he came however who is Essebsi? back to the government under Mo- The Tunisian President-elect Beji hamed Mzali as Minister of Foreign Caid Essebsi was born in Sidi Bou Affairs, serving until September Said, a northern suburb of Tunis, 1986. At that time he was well the capital. Essebsi graduated from known for his significant diplomatic the Faculty of Law in Paris in 1950 role in the Security Council Resolu- and began his law practice in 1952. tion condemning the israeli raids on He held several important positions PLO headquarters in the area of in Tunisia between 1963 and 1991 Hammam-Plage, situated in the

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southern suburb of the Tunisian ingly, Habib Essid formed a coali- capital. In 1989, he was elected as a tion government consisting of 26 member of the Tunisian Parliament. ministers, of whom three only are Later, he served as President of Par- female ministers. It, also, included liament from 1990 to 1991. Follow- Tunis Horizons Party, Free Patriotic ing the resignation of former Prime Union, Ennahda Party, and Tunis Minister , the Appeal Party which held 6 ministe- temporary President Fouad Muba- rial portfolios. This government re- zaa appointed Essebsi as Tunisian ceived the endorsement of the new Prime Minister on February 27, parliament since it obtained the 2011. Mubazaa charged Essebsi with votes of 166 deputies of total 204 the mission of forming an interim who attended the session, while 30 government that would serve until deputies voted of no confidence and the Constituent Assembly elections 8 deputies abstained from voting. In were held. accordance with the Constitution, In June 2012, Essebsi announced Essid government shall only need to the establishment of Tunis Appeal obtain the "absolute majority" rep- Movement which became, lately, at resented in 109 votes of a total of 217 the top of the Tunisian political life. deputies. As regards his personal life, he is Essid does not belong to Tunis married and the father of four chil- Appeal Party, but it seems that his dren. choice came as a step to lessen the Third: The New Government fears concerning the party domi- In accordance with the provisions nance on power after the winning of of Article (89) of the new Tunisian Caid Essebsi. This is in addition to constitution, "Tunis Appeal" Party the compatibility with the other par- was assigned to form the govern- ties; being an independent politician ment, as the winning party that ob- who held many positions whether tained parliamentary majority, how- before or after the revolution, be- ever it did not obtain "absolute ma- sides his experience in both the secu- jority", namely 109 seats, which rity and the economic fields. should qualify it to form the govern- Habib Essid was born in early ment alone. Therefore, the party June, 1949 in the coastal city of shall have to enter into alliances . He obtained a degree in eco- with other parties represented in the nomics in 1971 from the University parliament. In this respect, Tunis of Tunis, then a postgraduate degree Appeal Party appointed Habib Essid in agricultural economics from the to form the government. Accord- American University of Minnesota

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in 1974. He held various positions in Tunisian Republic in 1982 with the administration and in the Tunisian rank of commander and in 1992 with government, both before and after the rank of officer. Moreover, he was the revolution. In 1993, Habib Essid appointed the Minister of the Interior was named cabinet director at the in the government of Beji Caid Ministry of Agriculture, remaining Essebsi, who took over this position in that post until 1997. He later appointed by interim President Fouad served as cabinet director at the Mebazaa (who was the President of the Ministry of the Interior from 1997 Parliament under Ben Ali) on Febru- to 2000 and a member of the Na- ary 27, 2011. Later, on December 13, tional Council of Agriculture from 2011 the Interim President Marzouki 1992 to 1995. In 2001, Habib Essid appointed , Secretary was named Minister of State to the General of Ennahda Movement, to Ministry of Agriculture, remaining form a new government. In this re- in that post until 2003 then to the spect, Habib Essid was named the na- Ministry of Sea fishing and then the tional security adviser of Hamadi Je- Ministry of Environment. bali during the rule of Ennahda, which Essid, also, chaired Tunisian led the country after the Constituent state-owned companies, and he was Assembly elections in 2011. awarded the Legion of Honor of the

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