Tunisia's Volatile Transition to Democracy
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Ennahda's Approach to Tunisia's Constitution
BROOKINGS DOHA CENTER ANALYSIS PAPER Number 10, February 2014 CONVINCE, COERCE, OR COMPROMISE? ENNAHDA’S APPROACH TO TUNISIA’S CONSTITUTION MONICA L. MARKS B ROOKINGS The Brookings Institution is a private non-profit organization. Its mission is to conduct high- quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations for policymakers and the public. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s) and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its scholars. Copyright © 2014 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 U.S.A. www.brookings.edu BROOKINGS DOHA CENTER Saha 43, Building 63, West Bay, Doha, Qatar www.brookings.edu/doha TABLE OF C ONN T E T S I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................1 II. Introduction ......................................................................................................................3 III. Diverging Assessments .................................................................................................4 IV. Ennahda as an “Army?” ..............................................................................................8 V. Ennahda’s Introspection .................................................................................................11 VI. Challenges of Transition ................................................................................................13 -
The Muslim Brotherhood Fol- Lowing the “25 Janu- Ary Revolution”
Maria Dolores Algora Weber CEU San Pablo University THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD FOL- LOWING THE “25 JANU- ARY REVOLUTION”: FROM THE IDEALS OF THE PAST TO THE POLITICAL CHAL- LENGES OF THE PRESENT In the framework of the Arab Spring, as the wave of social mobilisation of 2011 has come to be known, the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt marked the beginning of a process which has deeply transformed the re- ality of many countries in the Arab World. In Egypt, the events that took place in Tahrir Square not only put an end to President Mubarak's dic- tatorship, but also paved the way for new political actors, among which the Muslim Brotherhood has played a key role. During the subsequent transition, the Brotherhood gained control of the National Assembly and positioned their leader, Mohamed Mursi, as the new President. The present debate is focused on the true democratic vocation of this move- ment and its relationship with the other social forces inside Egypt and beyond. This article intends to address these issues. To that end, it begins with an explanation as to the ideological and political evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and its internal changes brought about by the end of the previous regime, closing with an analysis of its transnational influ- ence and the possible international aftermaths. Islam, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt, Arab Spring 181 INTRODUCTION n 2011, a wave of social mobilisations took place in various Arab countries and which came to be known as the “Arab Spring”. This name is undoubtedly an at- tempt to draw a comparison between the historic process that unfolded in Europe Iin the mid-nineteenth century and the events that have taken place in the Arab World. -
[Tunisia, 2013-2015] Tunisia
Case Study Series Women in Peace & Transition Processes: [Tunisia, 2013-2015] December 2019 Name of process Tunisia Constituent Assembly (2013-2015) and National Dialogue Type of process Constitution-making The role of women in resolving Tunisia’s post-“Arab Spring” political crisis, which and political reform peaked in 2013, was limited, but not insignificant. Institutionalized influence Modality of women's was very limited: there was no formal inclusion of women’s groups in the main inclusion: negotiations of the 2013/2014 National Dialogue and the influence of organized • Consultations advocacy was also limited in the pre-negotiation and implementation phases. • Inclusive commission For example, the women’s caucus formed in the Tunisian National Constituent • Mass mobilization Assembly (Tunisia’s Parliament from the end of 2011 to 2014, hereafter NCA) Women’s influence could not prevail over party politics and was not institutionalized. However, in the process: individual women played decisive roles in all three phases: one of the four main Moderate influence due to: civil society mediators, who not only facilitated the main negotiations, but also • + The progressive legislation in initiated the dialogue process and held consultations to determine the agenda Tunisia on women's rights and in the pre-negotiation phase, was a woman, (Ouided Bouchamaoui President political participation of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Commerce and Crafts (UTICA), from 2011 • + The influential role and status to 2018). A small number of women represented political parties in the of individual women negotiations of the National Dialogue. And women were active in consultations • - The lack of organized and group-specific women's and commissions concerning the National Dialogue, before, in parallel or after involvement the main negotiation period, for example in the consensus committee of the • - The involvement of relatively National Constituent Assembly. -
Middle East Brief, No
Judith and Sidney Swartz Director and Professor of Politics Islamists in Power and Women’s Rights: Shai Feldman Associate Director The Case of Tunisia Kristina Cherniahivsky Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor Carla B. Abdo-Katsipis of Middle East History and Associate Director for Research Naghmeh Sohrabi uch scholarship has been devoted to the question Myra and Robert Kraft Professor Mof Islamist governance, its compatibility with of Arab Politics Eva Bellin democracy, and its sociopolitical implications for women. Henry J. Leir Professor of the Some assert that Islamists cannot be in support of Economics of the Middle East democracy, and women who support democracy would not Nader Habibi support Islamists, as traditional Muslim law accords women Renée and Lester Crown Professor 1 of Modern Middle East Studies fewer rights than men. In the context of the 2010-11 Jasmine Pascal Menoret Revolution in Tunisia, many asked whether Tunisian Senior Fellows women would lose rights, particularly those concerning Abdel Monem Said Aly, PhD 2 Kanan Makiya personal status and family law, when the Islamist political party Ennahda won 41 percent of the votes in the 2011 Goldman Senior Fellow Khalil Shikaki, PhD Constituent Assembly elections and maintained a significant 3 Research Fellow proportion of seats in subsequent elections. Monica Marks David Siddhartha Patel, PhD elaborates on this concern, explaining that those opposed Marilyn and Terry Diamond to Ennahda believed that it would “wage a war against Junior Research Fellow Mohammed Masbah, PhD women’s rights, mandate the hijab, and enforce a separate Neubauer Junior Research Fellow sphere ethos aimed at returning Tunisia’s feminists back to Serra Hakyemez, PhD their kitchens.”4 Junior Research Fellows Jean-Louis Romanet Perroux, PhD This Brief argues that Ennahda’s inclusion in Tunisia’s government has had Ahmad Shokr, PhD a counterintuitive impact on gender-based progress in the country. -
Forming the New Tunisian Government
Viewpoints No. 71 Forming the New Tunisian Government: “Relative Majority” and the Reality Principle Lilia Labidi Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center and former Minister for Women’s Affairs, Tunisia February 2015 After peaceful legislative and presidential elections in Tunisia toward the end of 2014, which were lauded on both the national and international levels, the attempt to form a new government reveals the tensions among the various political forces and the difficulties of constructing a democratic system in the country that was the birthplace of the "Arab Spring." Middle East Program 0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On January 23, 2015, Prime Minister Habib Essid announced the members of the new Tunisian government after much negotiation with the various political parties. Did Prime Minister Essid intend to give a political lesson to Tunisians, both to those who had been elected to the Assembly of the People’s Representatives (ARP) and to civil society? The ARP’s situation is worrisome for two reasons. First, 76 percent of the groups in political parties elected to the ARP have not submitted the required financial documents to the appropriate authorities in a timely manner. They therefore run the risk of losing their seats. Second, ARP members are debating the rules and regulations of the parliament as well as the definition of parliamentary opposition. They have been unable to reach an agreement on this last issue; without an agreement, the ARP is unable to vote on approval for a proposed government. There is conflict within a number of political parties in this context. In Nidaa Tounes, some members of the party, including MP Abdelaziz Kotti, have argued that there has been no exchange of information within the party regarding the formation of the government. -
Islam and Politics in Tunisia
Islam and Politics in Tunisia How did the Islamist party Ennahda respond to the rise of Salafism in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and what are possible ex- planatory factors of this reaction? April 2014 Islam and Politics in a Changing Middle East Stéphane Lacroix Rebecca Koch Paris School of© International Affairs M.A. International Security Student ID: 100057683 [email protected] Words: 4,470 © The copyright of this paper remains the property of its author. No part of the content may be repreoduced, published, distributed, copied or stored for public use without written permission of the author. All authorisation requests should be sent to [email protected] Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3 2. Definitions and Theoretical Framework ............................................................... 4 3. Analysis: Ennahda and the Tunisian Salafi movements ...................................... 7 3.1 Ennahda ........................................................................................................................ 7 3.2 Salafism in Tunisia ....................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Reactions of Ennahda to Salafism ................................................................................ 8 4. Discussion ................................................................................................................ 11 5. Conclusion -
Ennahda, Salafism and the Tunisian Transition
religions Article From Victim to Hangman? Ennahda, Salafism and the Tunisian Transition Francesco Cavatorta 1,*,† and Stefano Torelli 2,† 1 Department of Political Science, Laval University, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada 2 Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), 20121 Milan, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] † We are very grateful to the three referees whose insightful comments have improved the manuscript considerably. All errors remain of course our own. Abstract: The article revisits the notion of post-Islamism that Roy and Bayat put forth to investigate its usefulness in analysing the Tunisian party Ennahda and its role in the Tunisian transition. The article argues that the notion of post-Islamism does not fully capture the ideological and political evolution of Islamist parties, which, despite having abandoned their revolutionary ethos, still compete in the political arena through religious categories that subsume politics to Islam. It is only by taking seriously these religious categories that one can understand how Ennahda dealt with the challenge coming from Salafis. Keywords: political Islam; Tunisia; Salafism; Ennahda democratization 1. Introduction Political Islam has been a prominent research topic for the last three decades and the literature on it is as impressive as it is broad. While it is impossible to do full justice Citation: Cavatorta, Francesco, and to how scholars have approached the topic, there are three clusters of research that can Stefano Torelli. 2021. From Victim to be identified. First is the ever-present debate about the compatibility between Islam Hangman? Ennahda, Salafism and the and democracy, which informs the way Islamist parties are analysed (Schwedler 2011). -
Tunisia: Freedom of Expression Under Siege
Tunisia: Freedom of Expression under Siege Report of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group on the conditions for participation in the World Summit on the Information Society, to be held in Tunis, November 2005 February 2005 Tunisia: Freedom of Expression under Siege CONTENTS: Executive Summary p. 3 A. Background and Context p. 6 B. Facts on the Ground 1. Prisoners of opinion p. 17 2. Internet blocking p. 21 3. Censorship of books p. 25 4. Independent organisations p. 30 5. Activists and dissidents p. 37 6. Broadcast pluralism p. 41 7. Press content p. 43 8. Torture p. 46 C. Conclusions and Recommendations p. 49 Annex 1 – Open Letter to Kofi Annan p. 52 Annex 2 – List of blocked websites p. 54 Annex 3 – List of banned books p. 56 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) is a global network of 64 national, regional and international freedom of expression organisations. This report is based on a fact-finding mission to Tunisia undertaken from 14 to 19 January 2005 by members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) together with additional background research and Internet testing. The mission was composed of the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights, International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, International Publishers Association, Norwegian PEN, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) and World Press Freedom Committee. Other members of IFEX-TMG are: ARTICLE 19, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), the Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), Index on Censorship, Journalistes en Danger (JED), Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), and World Association of Newspapers (WAN). -
Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources Kirkpatrick, David D. "Moderate Islamist Party Heads Toward Victory in Tunisia."
Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources Kirkpatrick, David D. "Moderate Islamist Party Heads toward Victory in Tunisia." NY Times, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/world/africa/ennahda-moderate-islamic-party-makes-stro ng-showing-in-tunisia-vote.html. Accessed 8 Jan. 2020. This article was especially helpful for information about the results of Tunisia's election. It mentioned how the modern Islamic group is very proud that they managed to win control of a country using fair elections. This article is trustworthy because it was published by the New York Times, which is a mainstream source that has minimal bias. "Report: 338 Killed during Tunisia Revolution." AP News, 12 May 2012, apnews.com/f91b86df98c34fb3abedc3d2e8accbcf. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020. I used this source to find more specific numbers for the deaths and injuries that happened due to the Tunisian Arab Spring. This article was issued by AP News which is considered to have accurate news and minimal bias. Ritfai, Ryan. "Timeline: Tunisia's Uprising." Al-jazeera, 23 Jan. 2011, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/2011/01/201114142223827361.html. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020. I used this source to affirm descriptive details such as the exact dates for important events. Al-Jazeera published this article and is considered accurate, liable, and unbiased. Ryan, Yasmine. "The Tragic Life of a Street Vendor." Al-jazeera, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/01/201111684242518839.html. Accessed 6 Ahmad 1 Feb. 2020. I used this source to find out if Ben Ali visited Bouazizi in the hospital. This article was published by Al-Jazeera which is a fact reporting and unbiased source. -
Political Transition in Tunisia
Political Transition in Tunisia Alexis Arieff Analyst in African Affairs April 15, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RS21666 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Political Transition in Tunisia Summary On January 14, 2011, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country for Saudi Arabia following weeks of mounting anti-government protests. Tunisia’s mass popular uprising, dubbed the “Jasmine Revolution,” appears to have added momentum to anti-government and pro-reform sentiment in other countries across the region, and some policy makers view Tunisia as an important “test case” for democratic transitions elsewhere in the Middle East. Ben Ali’s departure was greeted by widespread euphoria within Tunisia. However, political instability, economic crisis, and insecurity are continuing challenges. On February 27, amid a resurgence in anti-government demonstrations, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi (a holdover from Ben Ali’s administration) stepped down and was replaced by Béji Caïd Essebsi, an elder statesman from the administration of the late founding President Habib Bourguiba. On March 3, the interim government announced a new transition “road map” that would entail the election on July 24 of a “National Constituent Assembly.” The Assembly would, in turn, be charged with promulgating a new constitution ahead of expected presidential and parliamentary elections, which have not been scheduled. The protest movement has greeted the road map as a victory, but many questions remain concerning its implementation. Until January, Ben Ali and his Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party exerted near-total control over parliament, state and local governments, and most political activity. -
Crisis Económica Y Desafección Política En Túnez: Los Desafíos De La Post-Pandemia
ARI 85/2020 15 de junio de 2020 Crisis económica y desafección política en Túnez: los desafíos de la post-pandemia Bernabé López García | Catedrático honorario de Estudios Árabes e Islámicos en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid y codirector del Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos (TEIM). Miguel Hernando de Larramendi | Catedrático de Estudios Árabes e Islámicos en la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha y director del Grupo de Estudios sobre las Sociedades Árabes y Musulmanas (GRESAM) | @mhlarramendi Tema El impacto económico y social de la crisis del COVID-19 corre el riesgo de acentuar las fracturas dentro de la sociedad tunecina. Las elecciones presidenciales y legislativas de 2019 mostraron la atomización del escenario político en ese país. Algunos ya plantean la necesidad de refundar la Segunda República tunecina surgida de la Constitución de 2014. Resumen Los 100 primeros días del gobierno de Elyes Fakhfakh, resultado de las transacciones entre partidos tras las elecciones de octubre de 2019, han coincidido con la crisis provocada por la pandemia del COVID-19. Tras la detección, el 2 de marzo, del primer caso de contagio, el nuevo ejecutivo adoptó una batería de medidas preventivas (confinamiento, suspensión de toda conexión aérea y marítima desde el 13 de marzo, interrupción de las actividades escolares, cierre de mezquitas y limitación de la movilidad). Esas medidas, que han sido respetadas por la mayoría de la ciudadanía, podrían haber influido en la limitada incidencia de la pandemia en el país. Sin embargo, la crisis del COVID-19 ha intensificado los desafíos que debe afrontar Túnez. El impacto económico y social de la emergencia sanitaria corre el riesgo de acentuar las fracturas dentro de la sociedad tunecina, si no tienen éxito los planes de recuperación económica, lo que requerirá un apoyo y compromiso firme por parte de la UE y sus Estados miembros. -
Tunileaks, Les Documents Dévoilés Par Wikileaks Concernant La Tunisie
Les documents sont reproduits à lʼissue de cette Il est important ici de signaler quʼil sʼagit donc des présentation. câbles du pouvoir civil par opposition aux instances militaires. Pour le cas des documents auxquels nous TuniLeaks, les documents dévoilés par avons eu accès, en lʼoccurrence ceux concernant la Tunisie, il est frappant de relever la place des Wikileaks concernant la Tunisie : préoccupations américaines relatives aux droits de Quelques réactions à chaud. lʼHomme. Ce qui pour nous a été une surprise, dʼautant plus quʼil ne sʼagit pas de communiqués publics destinés à calmer des ONG, mais des Nawaat relaye, en exclusivité, une partie des échanges privés entre des diplomates. Sans aucun documents secrets qui concernent la Tunisie doute, l'ensemble des documents mis en ligne par dévoilés par Wikileaks. Le site qui a déjà été à Wikileaks révélera-t-il, s'agissant d'autres pays, des l'origine de la fuite de milliers de documents sur éléments qui heurtent des principes de droit de l'engagement américain en Irak et en Afghanistan. l'Homme. Mais pour le cas de la Tunisie, cela ne Les documents sont issus du réseau SIPRNet semble pas avoir été le cas au sein des documents (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network) de dont nous avons disposés. lʼadministration américaine utilisé pour la transmission de mémos diplomatiques et autres Nos premières appréciations sur le contenu sont des documents secrets. Tous les documents relatifs à la appréciations à chaud. Mais nous aurons lʼoccasion Tunisie sont classés secrets : (Classification de revenir dessus après plusieurs lectures SECRET//NOFORN). « Noforn », qui est une approfondies, seules à même de permettre de saisir restriction supplémentaire, signifie « Not releasable des détails qui pourraient sembler anodins à to Foreign Nationals », autrement dit « non diffusable première vue.