When Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali won a fifth term in office in October 2009, with 90 per cent of the vote, even the BBC felt moved to comment that during the election campaign the ‘only suspense’ was over the exact percentage by which Ben Ali would be declared victorious. A country lauded for its economic progress, and a popular choice for European tourists seeking a low-priced package holiday on the Mediterranean, it was also named the seventh worst country to be a blogger in 2009.

Ben Ali took over from Habib Bourguiba in a coup in 1987, and is only the second head of state since Tunisia’s independence from France was won in 1956. Despite initially raising hopes of a political culture more tolerant of dissent, Ben Ali’s rule has been maintained by the usual apparatus of a police state and there has been no more than a sham procedural democracy. The parliamentary system is designed to give the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party a guaranteed and overwhelming majority. In the run-up to elections, the regime’s critics are subject to severe intimidation and violence, while the opposition parties that are permitted to operate cannot compete against the state’s publicity machine for Ben Ali and the RCD.

Ben Ali has used the banner of the ‘war on terror’ as an excuse to clamp down on opponents and criminalize Islamist political expression, a strategy boosted when a violent Salafi group claimed responsibility for a bombing in 2002. Those working in the media have also been hard hit, with Tunisia a leader in the Arab world for the number of journalists it arrests. In recent years, the internet and social networking sites have become useful tools for opposition activists in a variety of Middle East countries. Aware of this, the state keeps close tabs on the population’s internet use, while banning certain sites like YouTube. It is true that there are some success stories. Women’s rights in Tunisia are far more consolidated in both law and practice than in other Arab countries. Yet even this apparent ‘progressive’ development is complicated by the link between the discourse on women’s rights and the anti-democratic repression of Islamists.

Analysts sometimes ‘offset’ the appalling state of human rights and political freedom in Tunisia by pointing to the country’s economic progress compared to its regional neighbours. While there have been undeniable gains over the last decade when it comes to poverty alleviation and key quality of life indicators, it is too simplistic to talk of an economic success story. Ben Ali’s Tunisia may win praise from the IMF for ‘structural reforms’ and ‘open’ markets, but the privatization of state-owned assets and land has been less than transparent and has led to wealth accumulation by a privileged few. This serious corruption problem has been notoriously characterized by the rising power of Ben Ali’s wife, Leila Trabelsi, whose family now enjoys substantial business interests in areas as diverse as media, tourism and agriculture.

Tunisia continues to enjoy close economic and political ties with the US and Europe and benefits from billions of dollars of foreign investment. As Ben Ali continues to provide ‘stability’ – code for opportunities for foreign capital and no room for Islamist dissent – so the West is happy to keep doing business with the regime. The only question mark is over post-Ben Ali Tunisia – the leader is 73 years old, and talk has begun on who may succeed him. One of those rumoured as being groomed for power is his son-in-law, Sakher al-Materi, an entrepreneur with a seat in parliament. It would seem that, in more ways than one, the foreseeable future is likely to involve business as usual.

Ben White

Fact file

Leader	President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Economy	GNI per capita $3,290 (Algeria $4,260, France $42,250)
Monetary unit	Dinar
Main exports	Textiles and minerals (particularly phosphate for use as fertilizer), agricultural products and mechanical goods. France, the former colonial power, is still the single largest trading partner.
People	10.3 million. Annual population growth rate 1%. People per square kilometre 63 (UK 253)
Health	Infant mortality 18 per 1,000 live births (Algeria 33, France 4). Lifetime risk of maternal death 1 in 500 (France 1 in 6,900). HIV prevalence rate 0.1%
Environment	CO2 emissions per capita 2.0 tonnes (Canada 17.9). Tunisia has been praised for its environmental record, and had the highest ranking for an African country (alongside Mauritius) in the global Environmental Performance Index for 2008. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has acknowledged Tunisia’s work in tackling threats to the ozone layer.
Culture	93% Arab, 5% Berber, 2% European
Religion	Almost everyone is Sunni Muslim, with tiny Jewish and Catholic minorities
Language	Arabic (official), French & Tamazight. Human Development Index: 1990 0.627; 2007 0.769 (Algeria 0.754, France 0.961)

Country ratings in detail

Income distribution	Inequality in Tunisia is not as bad as in many other African countries, but economic progress has disproportionately benefited the north and urban areas. Protests and a harsh security force clampdown in 2008 in the southeast Gafsa region drew attention to issues of unemployment and labour rights.
Literacy	78% – up 11% since the last profile, but there is still much room for improvement. Women’s literacy rate is 80% of men’s.
Life expectancy	74 years is the highest in Africa (alongside Libya), and higher than European countries such as Bulgaria and Romania.
Freedom	The Government maintains a tight control over opinions in the media (including online). Political dissidents are often prosecuted under sham, unrelated charges. Failure to respect human rights has sometimes occurred under the banner of the ‘war on terror’.
Position of women	While key problems remain, women in Tunisia continue to enjoy a better position than in many other Middle Eastern countries, with a regionally unparalleled history of legal rights.
Sexual minorities	Homosexuality is illegal, and LGBT relationships and activities are not openly permitted. However, unofficial tolerance is better than in Tunisia’s neighbours and other Middle Eastern countries.
Previously reviewed	1997
New Internationalist assessment	Economic development and strong links with the West in terms of trade and tourism have grown in parallel to political repression and corruption. Western powers show little desire to bring significant pressure to bear on Tunisia for its woeful human rights record. The most recent elections confirmed that Ben Ali has no intention of weakening his single-party grip on power.