Tunisia’s “transitional justice” process, which was set in motion in late 2013 after the 2011 revolution that overthrew the regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, has been bedevilled by problems from inception. A lack of precision in the law that launched the process, as well as public disagreements among members of a new truth commission, have confused the country. Moreover, a controversial bill drafted in July 2015 by the office of Tunisia’s current president, Beji Caid Sebsi, which sought to remove all corruption cases from the ambit of the truth commission’s investigations, has caused a political storm. Tunisia’s constituent…
Eileen Byrne
Tunisia: moving with the times By Eileen Byrne Since the 2011 revolution the historic UGTT labour federation finds itself in a changed landscape—which it helped create Some 500 senior members of the historic trade union federation, the Union générale Tunisienne du travail (UGTT), gathered in early May in Tozeur, an oasis resort in southern Tunisia. More than four years after the revolution that overthrew the regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, the UGTT’s national council was to debate future policy in a dramatically changed political landscape. The history of the UGTT is intertwined with that of…
Tunisia: implementing a new constitution The country’s new parliament must adopt laws to translate a promising text into reality Tunisia’s new constitution is a major step along the road to building a stable parliamentary system. This blueprint for its young democracy guarantees a range of civil liberties that have been hailed as groundbreaking in the Arab world. Adopted three years after the country’s citizens chased out its authoritarian ruler, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the document dilutes the power of what was once an overweening executive presidency by boosting the prerogatives of elected lawmakers and the prime minister. Tunisia’s constituent assembly…
