Archive: tunisia

4th October 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
With just three weeks to go before Tunisia’s presidential and parliamentary elections, the Ettajdid Movement (one of the permitted opposition political parties) is complaining that half of its parliamentary candidate lists have been rejected by the authorities “without any convincing legal… Read more
21st September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
More harassment of the Tunisian regime’s critics: Abdallah Zouari, a journalist for the Islamist newspaper al-Fajr, spent 11 years in jail for "membership in an illegal organisation" (al-Nahda party) and "attempting to overthrow the state".  Following his release, he was forced to live in Hassi… Read more
13th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
There's an intriguing tale about Tunisia on the French-language blog, Chakchouka Tunisienne, and I'm hoping readers may be able to shed some more light on it. It says a businessman in Sfax was getting married and invited Belhassen Trabelsi, the president's brother-in-law to his wedding. Trabelsi… Read more
30th August 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
To the surprise of nobody, President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali has formally declared his candidacy in Tunisia’s presidential election on October 25. This will give him another five-year term, taking him up to the age of 77. In 2004, he secured more than 94% of the vote against three other candidates… Read more
21st August 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
With a presidential “election” coming up in Tunisia in October, you might think Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s position looks secure. The 72-year-old dictator has been in power since 1987 and the last time he sought a popular mandate, in 2004, he secured an incredible 94.48% of the votes. But Ben Ali is… Read more