Tunisia’s Electoral Law and Political Participation

Tunisia has been hailed as a regional success story. While political leaders are eager to move forward with elections, transitional justice should not be brushed aside.

by Karina Piser and Rim Dhaouadi

Since the January 2011 uprising Tunisia’s political leaders have struggled to maintain institutional stability while also breaking with the repressive legacy of former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. In January 2014 the country’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA) succeeded in adopting a new constitution in a process that involved tough concessions on all sides. Some five months since the historic event, this spirit of compromise appears to have evaporated.

On April 8, 2014, members of the NCA began debating a draft law to regulate upcoming elections, which are scheduled for the end of 2014. Negotiations stalled over Article 167 of the law, which excludes those affiliated with the previous regime from running for legislative office. Since Ben Ali’s ouster on January 14, 2011, questions about political participation by these regime affiliates, as well as members of Ben Ali’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (known by its French acronym, RCD), have been divisive.