Tunisia's Election: A Success
Tunisia’s Successful Democratic Election
January 14, 2015
This article has been produced by the efforts of the following members:
Troy Hilson – Team Member examining Tunisian Democracy
Sabrine Elejel – Team Leader examining Tunisian Democracy
With the successful conclusion of the run-off presidential election in December of 2014, Beji Essebsi was elected as president of Tunisia, beating out Mansef Marzouki. With the election of Essebsi, Nidaa Tounes now controls both the presidency and the most seats in parliament, meaning the party has the potential to bring about significant and needed change to Tunisia.
It could be argued that the election of Essebsi has been met with mixed results. Largely, Essebsi’s election was met with joy by Tunisia’s secular, liberal and urban constituents – most of which are concentrated in the north of Tunisia.[1] However, conservative and Islamist sections of Tunisian society are not so accepting of Essebsi, highlighted by rioting that occurred in a southern city when Essebsi gave his victory speech.[2] Further to this, there is on-going concern that Essebsi is a return to the old Ben Ali regime, under which he was a parliamentary speaker.[3]
However, Essebsi has tirelessly worked to distance himself from the abuses of the dictatorship, and instead emphasized his prolific experience as a statesman to help bolster his platform.[4] Ultimately, a majority of the population has demonstrated an acceptance of Essebsi, and Essebsi appears to be quite willing to work with all parties on the political spectrum, saying that they “must work together without excluding anyone”.[5] On the whole then, the election of Essebsi can be seen as having been positively and peacefully received by citizens – further helping to reinforce the notion of Tunisia as an example of a successful democratic transition
In terms of business, the election of Essebsi is certainly seen as a positive. Prior to the revolution, Tunisia was a fairly attractive place for doing business. In a 2008 report by the World Bank, it ranked at 73rd on ease of doing business.[6] Further to this, the World Bank recognized Tunisia as one of the top 33 reformer states in terms of business.[7] Thus, under the Ben Ali regime, Tunisia was already a fairly wealthy nation, and a favourable target for investment.
The fair and free election of Essebsi will only further help to attract business to Tunisia. The new president had already aligned himself with businesses during his campaign.[8] Moreover, Essebsi is a champion of both liberalism and capitalism, and will more than likely seek to enhance both the liberal and capitalist elements within Tunisia. This will serve to further attract businesses. The new government has already taken steps to bring investment into the country, one of which was issuing $1.75 billion of bonds, in an effort to bring money into the country to help revitalize the economy.[9]
Actions like these demonstrate that Tunisia is making serious efforts to bring business and investment to the country, and should be taken as a positive sign from businesses and investors that the country is both stable and organized enough to sustain long term growth. Ultimately, the election of Essebsi has shown that Tunisia is a stable and peaceful region that has completed its democratic transition, meaning that businesses, encouraged by Essebsi’s liberal-capitalist leanings, should be ramping up investment in the country.
