User talk:Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Arabic: زين العابدين بن علي‎ Zayn al-‘Ābidīn bin ‘Alī), (born 3 September 1936) is Tunisia’s second President since independence. According to the terms of the Tunisian Constitution, he succeeded to President Habib Bourguiba who had become too-old to govern, after serving briefly as Prime Minister. He leads today a moderate Arab nation considered to be a leading emerging country with an impressive track record despite limited natural resources. According the 2010 Davos World Economic Forum report, Tunisia ranks first in Africa in terms of competitiveness. Tunisia has also been selected as the best Arab country in terms of standard of living and the African country that “is mostly at peace” www.tunisiaonline.com. Every 7th of November is celebrated by the people of Tunisia as the “Day of the Change”, in reference to the day, President Ben Ali succeeded to President Bourguiba. http://www.changement.tn/english Since that transition, President Ben Ali has established a working democratic system with includes nine political parties five of which are represented in Parliament. All political parties, including two radical opposition formations, publish their own newspapers where their express their views freely. Along with a national public broadcasting system www.tunisiatv.com, there are two private TV channels (Hannibal Tv and Nessma Tv) and two private radio channels (Radio Mosaique and Radio Jawhara) with great popular appeal.

Tunisia is one of the best connected countries in Africa, with schools and colleges having all access to the Internet.The latest ranking issued by Akamai’s “State of the internet Report” ranks Tunisia among the top  African countries when it comes to internet connection speed, internet penetration and broadband adoption , with a connection speed of more than 5 Mbps. The 9th Global Information Technology Report rankeed Tunisia 1st in Africa http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=35845

Social policies implemented by Ben Ali drove the poverty rate in the country to less than 4% and consolidated the middle class, which is spanning today more that 80% of society, an unparalleled ratio in the Arab world. The National Solidarity Fund which Ben Ali launched to fight poverty in the country www.26-26.org has been so successful that it he has inspired the UN General Assembly to vote a unanimous resolution creating a World Solidarity Fund www. solidarity-fund.tn built around the Tunisian poverty eradication model. Economically, Tunisian economy has registered a robust growth rate hovering around 5% for the last 20 years. This record of achievements has compelled American renounced columnist to describe Tunisia as a “country that works”. http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc1503/article_1315.shtml

The President's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), is composed of about 2 million members .The party has managed to win the majority of votes in all legislative elections since independence because of its role as the party of liberation from French occupation and then as the party which has led the post-independence state-building effort.

2009 National elections On October 25, 2009, national elections were held in Tunisia. The election included presidential and a parliamentary ballots. The sitting president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali won a landslide victory, with 89.62% of the votes.. His three challengers (Mohamed Bouchiha, Ahmed Inoubli, and Ahmed Ibrahim) shared slightly more than 10% of the votes. http://www.elections2009.tn/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=1 Observers explain his popularity by his historic role in saving the country from collapse during the last few years of former President Bourguiba and with the unmatched level of stability and prosperity has ensured in the country since 1987. www.benali.tn

Government appointment Ben Ali was born in Hammam Sousse. He was imprisoned as a student for anti-occupation activism. An electronics engineer and a graduate of high military schools in France and the United States, he has played early after independence a key role in creating the military security department, in 1964, and managing it until 1974. He was promoted to director-general of National Security at the Ministry of the Interior in 1977 after serving as military attaché to the Kingdom of Morocco. He returned from four years as Ambassador to Poland to become once again head of National Security at the Ministry of the Interior but this time with Cabinet rank. He was promoted to Minister of the Interior, and retained this position until he was appointed Prime Minister. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister by President Habib Bourguiba on 1 October 1987; in this position, he was the President's constitutional successor. Five weeks after becoming head of the government, he succeeded to President Bourguiba declared medically unfit for the duties of the office ; and assumed the presidency on 7 November 1987. The constitutional destitution of President Bourguiba was popular and legitimately based on Article 57, which allowed the procedure. Furthermore, his coming to power has saved the country from falling to the hands of radical fundamentalists who were plotting to take over. Work as President Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Rally (formerly Neo-Destour party) continues to dominate the national politics. In 1999, although two alternative candidates were able for the first time to stand in the presidential election, Ben Ali was reelected with 99.66% of the vote. He was again re-elected on 24 October 2004 taking 94.48% of the vote, after a constitutional referendum in 2002. Following calls from his own political party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, for him to run again in the 2009 presidential election, Ben Ali said at a party congress on 30 July 30 2008 that he would stand for re-election as the party's candidate.[12]. On October 25, 2009, he was re-elected for a fifth term with an overwhelming 89 percent of the vote.[13] Since 1987, he has pursued policies that focus of human and social development making sure all children of both genders go to school. Virtually all the population has access to water and electricity. Tunisian society has become a homeowners’ society with more than 80% of Tunisian households owning their homes. Building upon the pioneering role played by former President Bourguiba in favor of the emancipation of women, he has taken various steps to ensure social and political progress for the women of Tunisia. Today the women of Tunisia constitute more than 22% of the Chamber of Deputies, 59.5% of the total and 44.6% of journalists. http://www.unft.org.tn/en/home/home.html

As President, Ben Ali has led a foreign policy based on the promotion of peace and cooperation between nations. He has played a crucial role working for peace in the Middle East and Africa. Advocacy of religious tolerance and cultural dialogue has been a constant principle of his policies. http://www.chairebenali.tn/cba_an/index.php He has been unwaveringly opposed to extremism and terrorism, even when awareness of the problem in the West was not obvious. He is in fact credited with having warned The United States and Europe of the dangers extremism since the late 80’s. The First Lady The First Lady of Tunisia, Mrs. Leila Ben Ali, plays a leading role in Tunisia promoting the rights of women in her own country. In her capacity as President of the Arab Women Organization, she has been also since 2009 taking the lead in calling for the enfranchisement of women all over the Arab world. Beside advocating the rights of women, Mrs. Leila Ben Ali is active in the promotion of the cause of employment of the handicapped. “The Basma association”, which she chairs, is dedicated to this cause. www.basma.org.tn. She is the recipient of many warads including the World Family award (2000), the International Businesswomen Organiation award 2008) and the Arab women organization Golden Shield (2008). References 2009 WEF global competitiveness report ranks Tunisia first in Africa : http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=3543

9th Global Information Technology Report ranks Tunisia 1st in Africa http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=35845

Tunisia, best Arab country in terms of quality of living http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=32066

2009 Global Peace Index ranks Tunisia among safest countries in Africa http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=23788

9th Global Information Technology Report ranks Tunisia 1st in Africa http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=35845 1.	. Preceded by Habib Bourguiba President of Tunisia 1987–present	Incumbent Preceded by Rachid Sfar Prime Minister of Tunisia 1987	Succeeded by Hédi Baccouche