October 23rd, 2009 by Jason

Tunisia will hold presidential and legislative elections on October 25th. The Daily Star has reprinted a good overview of the upcoming election, originally in the Arab Reform Bulletin, by Hamadi Redissi that explains how Tunisia’s electoral system “allows for an appearance of pluralism in the Chamber of Deputies without threatening the ruling party’s hegemony.”

Writing for The Independent, Adrian Hamilton explains how Tunisia and North Africa’s “ageing autocrats use elections for the sole purpose of keeping themselves in power and their family in riches.” While not as violent as other authoritarian countries, “Tunisian political control is more discrete and more legalistic. But a closed political system it is.” Therefore, Michael Allen summarizes Tunisian politics as “gerontocracy vs. democracy.”

According to The Guardian, “virtually all observers agree that the elections, for parliament as well as the presidency, can be no more than a hollow exercise.” While some parties have been allowed to run against President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition candidate Nejib Chebbi dropped out of the race because of “the absence of minimal conditions of freedom, of honest and transparency.” The government has cracked down on the press as the election draws closer, turning back a Le Mondecorrespondent at the airport and slamming recent al-Jazeera interviews of leading Tunisian dissidents.

Freedom House has also released a statement decrying “the Tunisian government’s harassment of opposition figures and journalists during the lead-up to presidential and legislative elections.”

Finally, Amel Boubekeur of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explains how Ben Ali exploits the threat of Islamism to maintain his grip on power.

UPDATE: Babylon and Beyond has also chimed in, explaining how Ben Ali “introduced constitutional amendments to allow himself to run for another term, limit the number of opposition candidates and guarantee his Constitutional Democratic Rally as an overwhelming majority in parliament.”

Posted in Elections, Journalism, North Africa, Political Parties, Tunisia |