President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali President of the Republic of Tunisia On November 7, 1987 at dawn, the Tunisians were relieved and heartened to learn of the constitutional accession to the highest executive office of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In a solemn declaration over the national radio, he announced the dawn of a new era for Tunisia, he called on his fellow citizens to participate in the building of an open, democratic society resolutely turned towards progress. The whole country welcomed the change with great relief. The new president brought a message that the nation had long been waiting for: A message of confidence and hope. The protracted ordeal of a declining regime was finally over. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was born on September 3, 1936 in Hammam-Sousse, to a family of moderate means which brought him up to respect tradition and imbued him with a sense of dignity, patriotism and respect for others. From them he developed a propensity for simplicity, hard work and rigor, as well as a sense of moderation and tolerance. While still in the Sousse secondary school, Ben Ali responded to the call of patriotic duty. Outraged by colonial oppression, he became active in the nationalist movement, acting as liaison between the regional structures of the Neo-Destour party and the armed struggle. As a result, he was imprisoned and excluded from all educational establishments in Tunisia. Yet he did not give up his studies but soon resumed them with enough energy and determination to persevere into higher education after completing high school. Recognizing Ben Ali's outstanding qualities, the Party sent him abroad to pursue his higher training as part of a group that was to form the nucleus of the future national army. He first graduated from the special Interservice School in Saint Cyr (France), then from equally prestigious schools: the Artillery School in Ch‰lons-sur-Marne (France), and the Senior Intelligence School (Maryland, USA) and the School of Anti-Aircraft Field Artillery (Texas, USA). He also holds a degree in electronic engineering. "My interest in computer science," he was later to say, "has had a considerable impact on the way I work, giving me a definite taste for logic, rigorous analysis and long-term planning which shuns improvisation." The second stage in Ben Ali's career was marked by a steady increase in responsibilities, due to his sense of duty, his readiness to listen to others and his capacity for rigorous analysis. Prior to making any decision, he would carefully consider available information, analyze situations and compare results. Once the decision is made, he personally sees it through to a successful conclusion thanks to diligent action and close follow up. Summarizing this process to a newspaper, he said in a nutshell : "I listen, I ponder, I act." In 1964, while still a young staff officer, he created the Military Security Department which he directed for ten years. In 1974, he was appointed military attachŽ to Morocco and Spain. He was then assigned to the office of the Defense Minister before becoming Director General of National Security. In April 1980, he was appointed Ambassador to Warsaw. At the end of his tour of duty in Poland, he returned to Tunisia, to serve, first, as Secretary of State, then as Minister, of National Security. In 1986, he became Minister of the Interior, and in June of the same year Member of the Political Bureau of the Socialist Destourian Party (PSD). He was soon appointed Assistant Secretary General of the Party. Promoted to the rank of Minister of State in charge of the Interior in May 1987, he was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, at the age of 51, while keeping the Interior portfolio. By the same token, he became Secretary General of the PSD. President Habib at the time was weakened by old age and illness, and was surrounded by seraglio intrigues. Ben Ali, however, remained above rivalries, acting, on the contrary, to ease the political climate, to promote openness to associations such as the Tunisian League of Human Rights and establish contacts with opposition parties. This won him the sympathy and respect of the entire political class, which considered him a man of dialogue and openness. As Prime Minister, Ben Ali took in charge the leadership of a country in crisis. He confronted the situation with determination, foiling intrigues, taking endless calming measures, striving to restore confidence, advocating logical and realistic solutions, and invariably making the higher interests of Tunisia prevail. During that period, President Bourguiba was subject to more and more frequent lapses and was eventually disconnected from the realities of the country. On the strength of a medical report drawn up by the seven specialists treating President Bourguiba, which attested to the latter's incapacity, and by virtue of Article 57 of the Constitution, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumed the highest executive office on November 7, 1987. The ensuing transition went smoothly and in full respect of constitutional legality, and the former president was treated with all due respect. From the very moment of his investiture, President Ben Ali has made every effort to honor the commitments contained in the Declaration of November 7th : rule of law, sovereignty of the people, national reconciliation, respect for fundamental freedoms, democracy, pluralism, social justice, solidarity, hard work, openness and modernity. This program received the support of the overwhelming majority of the Tunisian people since it came up to their expectations. First of all, Ben Ali restored the vitality and credibility of the old Socialist Destourian Party (PSD), which had fallen into lethargy. Renaming it the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), he renovated its structures, modernized its action methods and reformulated its discourse. The Party opened up to the young, renewed its cadres, restored free debate and the sense of initiative to the rank-and-file, reinforced its credibility and its grassroot outreach, and widely enlarged its constituency. On the political plane, a climate of dŽtente and national concord set in and numerous measures were taken to establish true democracy and lay the groundwork for the rule of law. The Constitution was amended to do away with life presidency and automatic succession. The Economic and Social Council was re-structured, its prerogatives extended and its representativeness broadened to promote national consensus on major development options. A Constitutional Council was created soon after the Change of November 7th to guarantee, in both letter and spirit, the constitutionality of the laws. In 1998, a constitutional law provided that the opinions of the Constitutional Council shall be binding on all powers and all authorities. The freedom of expression was guaranteed, and the Press Code amended twice, to confer on Tunisian law in this area a clearly modernistic and liberal orientation and provide journalists with adequate conditions to exercise their profession. Many measures were taken notably in favor of the opinion press and the journalists in general. A new reform of the Press Code was announced in 1999. A new law on parties was adopted in 1988. It redefined the procedure governing the establishment of political families and groupings, giving pluralism a new impetus and an irreversible character. The early presidential and general elections of April 2, 1989 were the first in the country's history to take place in absolute transparency and perfect conformity with the law. As a candidate of all Tunisians across party lines, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was elected that year President of the Republic. The consensus in support of President Ben Ali was confirmed by his re-election on March 20, 1994, with a very large majority. The amended Electoral Code also promoted the multi-party system in the 1994 general elections, as it enabled, for the first time since Tunisia's independence, the entry of the opposition into the Chamber of Deputies. New amendments made it possible for the opposition to win 20% of the seats in the October 1999 elections. Other amendments lowered the minimum age of candidates for the office of Deputy and guaranteed the right to run for office for all electors born of a Tunisian mother while, previously, only the elector born of a Tunisian father could be a candidate. In 1999, a constitutional amendment facilitated the pluralism of candidacies for the Presidency of the Republic. President Ben Ali won the overwhelming support of the electorate in the first contested elections. President Ben Ali made Tunisia a pioneer country in the field of human rights protection, seeing to the implementation of a comprehensive conception combining economic, social and cultural rights with civil and political rights. Just two weeks after the Change, a bill laying down the rules for pre-trial custody and preventive detention was adopted. The State Security Court and the office of State Prosecutor were abolished and so was hard labor. The 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Punishments or Treatments was ratified without reservation. The rights of the child are now protected by the law, and the culture of human rights is promoted and widely disseminated. A new law was enacted in 1999 with the aim of reducing the period of pre-trial custody, instituting the public service work as a sentence instead of imprisonment (provided that the convicted person accepts it freely); and defining torture according to international standards. The purpose of the law was to harmonize national legislation with the relevant United Nations Convention which Tunisia had ratified without reservation. Moreover, a bill was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies to establish the rule of dual jurisdiction in criminal cases and institute the office of judge to oversee the conditions of a prisoner's sentence. Since November 7, 1987, President Ben Ali expessed his unwavering commitment to the emancipation of women and his determination to further women's rights. The National Pact, a culmination of the national reconciliation drive engineered by Ben Ali, was endorsed by all the country's political and social tendencies and currents, thus sanctioning national consensus. A general amnesty law was decreed. To put the country back to work, President Ben Ali succeeded in clearing the social climate by rehabilitating the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), instituting dialogue between management and labor and making labor a cardinal value, out of conviction that there cannot be any social justice or progress without the creation of wealth and without a concerted effort to ensure production and creativity. The economic reforms introduced against this background have enabled the country to achieve a sustained economic growth rate of nearly 5% and lower the inflation rate to about 3%. A national program of modernization and upgrading of the industrial fabric has been developed in collaboration with the European Union, with which Tunisia signed an association and free-trade agreement in 1995. The country's modern infrastructure, favorable legislation and climate of stability and growth have attracted an increased number of foreign investors. The economic success of the Tunisian model is recognized all over the world and observers have even described it as a "Tunisian miracle". No doubt this profoundly humanistic approach to social realities will prove to be one of the dominant traits of President Ben Ali's personality and record. A man of the people, he constantly listens to citizens, and espouses their concerns and their expectations. What he has accomplished in this respect is based on keen sympathy with the underprivileged, rejection of exclusion, opening up of the disadvantaged regions and equal opportunities for all. As a result, the poverty rate has been brought down to 6% and the middle classes now account for over 60% of the population. Thus it is with deep emotion that the Tunisians see their president making impromptu visits to deprived districts, steep mountainous areas or social, educational and economic institutions. Always in accord with his people, Ben Ali strives to give concrete expression to the concept of national solidarity, which is the foundation of his social policy. His visits are invariably followed with immediate action, sometimes in the form of a cabinet meeting the same day, which he chairs in person, to make appropriate decisions. It was after such a visit to one of the remote areas of the country in December 1992 that President Ben Ali decided to create the "National Solidarity Fund", better known since as "2626" after the number of its current account. This decision was warmly welcomed by Tunisians, who demonstrated their solidarity by responding to the appeal of the President with generous donations to the Fund. The mission of the Fund is to end isolation, improve living conditions in the deprived areas and enable their inhabitants to undertake income-generating projects. In addition, the creation of the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (a micro-credit system) in 1997 has made it possible to finance thousands of small projects every year, create jobs for young graduates and promote initiative. The educational reform which made school attendance compulsory until the age of 16, has raised the schooling rate for children to approximately 99%, has fostered the value of openness, tolerance and innovation and further promoted equality between men and women. Such equality has been reinforced by a host of avant-garde measures taken by President Ben Ali. The Code of Personal Status, one of the most advanced in the world with respect to women, has been strengthened and equality is now a feature of daily life. After the 1999 legislative elections, the number of women in the Chamber of Deputies has basically doubled. President Ben Ali has instituted an active and dynamic diplomacy. Working for the integration of the entire Maghreb, the establishment of an inter-Arab consensus and the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean area of co-development, Ben Ali is actively contributing to the search for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. His recent chairmanship of the Organization of African Unity, highlighted his commitment to seeking negotiated solutions to the conflicts shaking the continent and to preventing new conflicts. During his visits abroad, his meetings with the Heads of state and Kings and his discussions with senior diplomats and world leaders, President Ben Ali invariably pleads the cause of a more just, more united, more stable and more prosperous world. In his view, globalization should be a source of universal progress and development, not a factor of imbalance or domination. In 1999, he announced an initiative for the creation of a World Solidarity Fund. UNESCO's designation of Tunis as regional cultural capital in 1997 highlighted Tunisia's growing cultural influence and its ability to contribute to the dialogue among civilizations. At the instigation of President Ben Ali, Tunisia's passage into the era of new communication technologies has been facilitated by numerous incentive measures taken in this regard. President Ben Ali is married and is the father of five children. His wife, Madame Leila Ben Ali, is very active in a number of Tunisian and international charities, working to promote the causes of women, the family and the child.