Essebsi Must Work With Islamists to Ensure Tunisia’s Transition (original) (raw)

The Tortuous Path to a New Economic Agenda in Egypt and Tunisia

Three overarching features characterize the recent economic evolution of Egypt and Tunisia. First, they were the celebrated macroeconomic “success stories” of neoliberalism in the Arab Mediterranean and participated fully in the worldwide economic boom of the 2000-2008 period. Second, the accompanying spread of negative features ultimately underpinned the uprisings of 2010-2011, including unemployment, especially among educated youth, poverty, especially in the neglected hinterlands, expanding informal sectors, corruption and cronyism, electoral fraud, and repression of labor, civil society organizations and political opposition. Third, as of March 2014, none of the governments that followed the ousting of the Mubarak and Ben Ali regimes had presented a coherent program for more equitable and sustainable economic transformation, while political turmoil, violence – two political assassinations in Tunisia and the overthrow of the elected president in Egypt -- and instability prevailed. Aside from the perpetuation of stagnation in an atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty, there was a spectrum of possible approaches for economic transformation. From “right to left” these included (1) neoliberalism with an inclusive mask, as promoted by the IFIs and Deauville Partnership, (2) a developmental state and industrial policy in the East Asian mode, (3) a more egalitarian developmental state as proposed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and International Labor Organization (ILO), and (4) a citizen-led developmental state as encoded in the work of NGOs and the independent trade union movement.

The Promise of Democracy in Tunisia Since the Arab Spring

KKI Policy Brief, 2021

Abstract: Tunisia has often been praised as the only democratic success story of the Arab world. Today, following the exceptional measures undertaken by President Kais Saied to freeze parliament and dismiss the prime minister, that description is being challenged, and democracy is called “a failed experiment.” This article explains why this is happening in Tunisia by examining the roots of the main political and economic challenges to Tunisia’s democratic path. The article also offers insights into the consequences of these changes at the national and the regional level.

Chapter 10 The Political Economy of Development Policy in Tunisia

Elsevier eBooks, 2006

During the last five decades Tunisia managed to achieve a robust long-run GDP growth of about 5% per year, against 3.5% only, for the MENA region as a whole. However, Tunisia failed to reduce obvious inefficiencies such as high protection, financial repression, and a highly regulated economy in general. The present study attempts to explain why the country was unable to do better in this respect, even though it was a top performer in social modernization and it started its economic reforms relatively early. The study adopts the political economy approach to explain independent Tunisia's development policy choices, based on the theory of collective action and an analysis of contracting problems of representation, coordination, and commitment. The paper draws on some lessons from Tunisia for the other MENA countries. It stresses the importance of women's rights, population control, and modern education. In addition, it refers to the recent examples of Morocco and Kuwait regarding women status reform to argue that action is still possible. It argues that even though no efforts should be spared to get influential groups on board, the reforming governments in MENA today cannot afford to be paralyzed by anti-reform groups-such as Islamist groups in Parliaments-either.

Tunisia's Unwritten Story: The Complicated Lessons of a Peaceful Transition (2017)

in the book Arab Politics Beyond the Uprisings (eds. Thanassis Cambanis and Michael Hanna), 2017, 2017

Pundits and analysts have celebrated Tunisia’s post-revolution transition as a paradigm for peaceful change. Alone among the Arab countries that rose up in 2011, Tunisia successfully adopted a new political system while maintaining relative stability. The popular story of this transition features high-minded secularist heroes who saved the revolution from the hands of bumbling Islamists. But this narrative is deeply flawed. A close look at the 2013 National Dialogue negotiations reveals a more complicated history. In reality, the country averted disaster because Tunisia's three major power players— the trade union (UGTT), the Islamist Ennahda party, and remnants of the old regime— pursued self-interest in a uniquely Tunisian context that ultimately facilitated compromise. The result has been imperfect: old-regime reactionaries fared far better than is commonly understood, and socioeconomic gains remain elusive. Thus, rather than providing an easily exportable model, Tunisia’s National Dialogue carries more complex lessons for other transitions, both within the Arab world and beyond.

Tunisia's President's Bets and Internal and External Challenges

Abdullah Jbour, 2022

Tunisia's political system has undergone major transformations since the events of the Republic Day (25 July 2021) when President Kais Saied undertook extraordinary measures, issuing authorities in the country, dismissing the House of Representatives, dismissing the Government and making a new politically depoliticized Government, drafting a new constitution for the country and a new election law, Many wonder where Tunisia is headed? What is the President's project that he intends to implement? What is the fate of the country's political society and the future of democracy? What are the sources of power and mechanisms of new governance? Would the Tunisian army have a role in politics? Does Saied succeed in establishing a new political system that satisfies Tunisians and reflects positively on their standard of living? What impact has the new Totalitarianism had on the Tunisian regime?