A Special Advertising Section on Tunisia

President Ben Ali spreads Tunisia's message of solidarity

On the occasion of Tunisia's national day of solidarity, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali shares with The Washington Times his views on Tunisia's social, economic and political developments.

WT: You have set up two institutions, the National Solidarity Fund (2626) and the Tunisian Solidarity Bank, which illustrate your determination to give a social identity to an often marginalized category that represents from 5 to 6% of the population. Would you tell us how the impromptu visits you made in 1992 to a number of remote regions, gave impetus for the design and implementation of your social programs, beginning with the 2626 fund that you set up in 1993.

President Ben Ali: I wanted very much to see for myself the pertinent issues in society and the living conditions of the Tunisian population. Though I was aware of the great progress we had made in Tunisia to eradicate poverty and improve living conditions, a view which is supported by most development indicators, I felt a concern for a fringe of society that in the mid-80s accounted for 10% of the Country's population.

Members of this fringe, which represented a kind of hard core poverty, were living in conditions of extreme privation. Their situation resulted from a number of causes, such as unemployment, illiteracy, mental handicaps, physical disabilities, absence of production means and capital, high population growth, and others.

During impromptu visits that I made, I saw clear examples of these situations in rural areas. My observations gave impetus to the decisions I subsequently made.

In these instances the conditions I saw were unacceptable in terms of human dignity. I felt that it was unthinkable to postpone addressing this situation while setting up a societal project based on solidarity, social balance and the consolidation of human rights in their comprehensive sense.

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It was necessary to mobilize new resources so that our work for development would benefit regions and social categories that would otherwise have had to wait for too long.

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As a result, it was necessary to mobilize new resources so that our work for development would benefit regions and social categories that would otherwise have had to wait for too long.

The mobilization of national solidarity to carry out this noble mission seemed to us the best way to ensure the development of these areas and to provide their inhabitants with the basic necessities that would enable them to integrate into the country's development cycle.

From these visits was born the idea of creating the National Solidarity Fund and of making it an effective tool for reviving the values of solidarity and mutual help among social categories. Such values are deeply rooted in the minds of our people, but it was necessary to think of some effective means to channel and revitalize them.

Our intention was for this Fund to serve as a framework for voluntary contributions by individuals, communities and organizations. These contributions would be in addition to allocations from the state budget.

This experiment is six years old. It has already attracted the attention of international institutions responsible for social development and the importance of what has been accomplished is obvious to any observer. At the end of last year, the Fund's program has covered 712 disadvantaged regions inhabited by 140,000 families, with investments of over US$ 300 million providing electricity, drinking water supplies, housing construction and improvement, local road construction, and the creation of schools and health care centers.

The philosophy of the Fund is based on the principle of providing assistance to the poor while at the same time breaking with the entitlement mentality. It is premised on the conviction that a decent life requires a steady source of income, so that deprived categories of the population are not always dependent on help. For this reason, a large part of the Fund's activities have been geared towards the creation of sources of income. As of the end of 1997, approximately 32,000 projects were created, generating in the sectors of agriculture, handicrafts and small business.

Last year we created a new mechanism to reinforce this approach, the Tunisian Solidarity Bank. The Bank's mission is to grant credit, on easy terms and at low interest rates not exceeding 5%. The beneficiaries are those engaged in small businesses and handicrafts and training graduates who do not have the traditionally needed financial means nor the guarantees usually required by banks in order to set up their own projects. The Bank began providing loans in March 1998.

When I said earlier that national solidarity was part of the concept of comprehensive development that we cherish, I meant that the efforts we are making in this field are not limited to helping disadvantaged categories, but are also designed to encourage the latter to enter the development circuit so as to have a stake in society and to contribute to the building of the country's present and future. In addition, national solidarity is one of the foundations of our comprehensive approach to human rights. This approach makes no distinction between political rights and economic and social rights, because human dignity is meaningless in the absence of the minimum level of well being.

WT: Women's equality is an issue that should be raised with the entire international community. Many countries, including the United States, are far from having achieved full emancipation of women. In Tunisia, the 1950s were an important turning point for women's liberation, particularly with the abolition of polygamy in 1956. Gradually, women began occupying management positions in both the public and private sectors. Against this background, and considering that the question should be put to any head of state, do you think there are areas in which women have not yet achieved equality with men?

President Ben Ali: Tunisia played a pioneering role in the Arab and Islamic world in addressing the issue of women. Women's emancipation was a concern to reformist pioneers in Tunisia early in the century. Their progressive ideas provided a perfect platform for the drafting, in 1956, of the Code of Personal Status, which reflected a moderate interpretation by Tunisian thinkers of the position of Islamic legislation on women's rights. There was also a political determination to translate this ijtihad, or progressive interpretation of the faith, into laws.

The Code of Personal Status is undoubtedly a watershed achievement in the consecration of equality of rights and obligations between men and women, particularly with respect to the abolition of polygamy, an accomplishment which sets Tunisia apart from all other Arab-Muslim countries. Divorce in Tunisia is a matter for the courts, and no longer the result of repudiation on the part of the man. The Country's constitution grants women the right to vote and to stand for election.

To return to the part of your question regarding further reinforcement of women's gains, I would like to point out that our concern since November 7, 1987, has been to confirm laws regarding every aspect of life so as to see to it that equality passes from the legal realm to a true change in the life of women at all times, in their relations with their families and with society. In this respect, 1993 constituted an important state, marking an amendment of the Code of Personal Status to promote and enhance the rights of women by ensuring that these rights consecrate an evolution from the notion of equality with men to that of real partnership with them.

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Today, women play an active and effective role in political institutions and circles such as parliament, the government, and political associations.

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Today, women share with men the responsibility for family affairs and children's education, whereas the previous version of the law used to stipulate that they should serve and obey their husbands.

These amendments have, for example, made a mother's agreement a prerequisite for the marriage of her minor sons and daughters. They have also created a fund for the payment of child support and alimony.

We have amended the Nationality Code to enable Tunisian women married to foreigners to extend their nationality to their children. The Labor Code, too, has been amended to confirm gender equality in all professional occupations. And we have amended the Penal Code to reinforce sanctions against domestic violence.

From a concern to remedy legal inadequacies and reinforce women's rights and gains, we adopted an additional set of measures and decisions in April 1996 regarding, among other things, the automatic payment of child support to divorced mothers with custody of their children, the institution of equality between men and women in receiving social security benefits in the public and private sectors, and the possibility for both spouses to obtain a personal loan for the purpose of purchasing a family home.

Mandatory school enrollment, which we instituted in 1991, has brought the enrollment rate for girls aged 6 to the same level as that of boys (99%).

But legal measures, however important, cannot alone achieve the desired equality. And from the time we came to power we have encouraged women to take an active part in public life through political, economic, social and cultural action.

Today women play an active and effective role in political institutions and circles such as parliament, the government, and political associations. Women have also entered the economic and business arena. A new generation of women heads of businesses was born during the last decade. They are competently managing important economic enterprises.

The presence of women is clearly visible in all sectors, even those that were formerly monopolized by men. The cultural fields have seen,the emergence of women artists whose works have been well received internationally. But despite the gains that have already been achieved by women in Tunisia, we shall continue to spare no efforts to strengthen these gains still further. We are committed to the role of women in society, and our ambitions in this regard are limitless.

These are aspirations based on clear, precise indicators. We need only point out that during the present year there is a larger number of girls than boys in the secondary schools, and that the numbers are approximately equal in higher education. This shows that women, who now occupy a large number of positions of responsibility and management, are one of the pillars of national reform and construction.

As regards the question whether there are areas in which women have not yet achieved equality with men in our country, I would like to assert that Tunisia which fosters the rights and achievements of women, is determined to consecrate its well-established reputation of always acting to reconcile between the lofty teachings of Islam and the prerequisites of social progress.

The issue of equality between men and women, as regards inheritance, has been clearly dealt with by the Coran. Both Islamic and Tunisian law enable the individual to bequeath whatever he likes to anyone he chooses from his heirs, provided the other heirs agree with his will. He is also free, during his lifetime, to donate any of his possessions to whomever he likes.

WT: Another characteristic feature of your government is your promotion of political pluralism. We have had the honor to meet a certain number of members of parliament, including one representative of the opposition who participated in the drafting of the National Pact. What additional measures have been taken to strengthen the multi-party experience in Tunisia?

President Ben Ali: We have striven from the very beginning of the Change to consecrate pluralism in public life, and the intervening period has seen the adoption of numerous important measures and decisions in this area, laying the foundation for an evolved pluralistic political life. We would point out here that the last parliamentary elections, held in 1994, marked the first time that opposition parties entered parliament.

The constitution has also been amended, specifying for the first time the role of parties in political life and thereby confirming that role in the country's most important legal text.

This measure was taken concurrently with the promulgation of a law pertaining to the public financing of parties with the state budget funds; and the allocation of material support for the opinion press through the subsidy of paper costs, exemption from customs duties, and the granting of an annual allocation to cover part of the printing costs for opposition party newspapers, with a view to further enrich the media landscape in our country.

As further elements stemming from our determination to promote pluralism in representative bodies, and given the conditions of Tunisia's political landscape, we announced more than a year ago measures to strengthen opposition representation both in Parliament, where it will have a minimum of 20% of the total seats, and in the municipal councils, where no majority could win more than 80% of the seats.

Regarding presidential elections, we have recently announced our decision to ensure that several candidates will be able to run for the next presidential elections scheduled for the fall of 1999. This will be done through an interim constitutional arrangement that will permit anyone who has served as the head of a political party for at least five consecutive years to stand for these elections. We intend to ensure for these elections every possible chance of success in a framework of total transparency.

In addition to the legal aspects, we are sparing no effort to involve opposition parties in national programs, choices and major issues, whether through consultative councils or by direct consultation with them. This is a tradition we have ourselves instituted and it has become an important feature of Tunisia's democratic experience, which is characterized by consultation and the national consensus. This tradition will be strengthened by providing a legal framework for the dialogue that we have instituted between the government and the Chamber of Deputies regarding sectoral policies, strategic issues and current concerns.

WT: It is well known that you are highly interested in technology and that you encourage modern means of communication. During the last two years the communications sector in Tunisia has become competitive. In addition, telephone rates have been lowered considerably and connection to the Internet has become easy, even in the most remote areas. Technological progress, particularly with respect to the Internet, can have negative aspects and may imply a challenge to cultural values. How do you think Tunisian society can face the negative factors inherent in the use of the Internet, particularly the dissemination of immoral works or extremist propaganda?

President Ben Ali: In Tunisia we realized quite early that our time is one of rapid communication and of information technologies, in the context of globalization and related challenges. It is for that reason that we undertook, a few years ago, to modernize our communications network to adapt it to the requirements of the computer revolution.

We also continue to encourage use of the Internet, one of the most outstanding manifestations of this revolution in all aspects of daily life, in all sectors and by all categories of users. We have instituted a number of incentives to this end, reducing the costs of both connection and use.

In addition to university institutions and research centers, we have endeavored to ensure that connection to the Internet is accessible throughout the country. And to encourage young people to learn how to use it at an early age, we called for our secondary schools to be connected. The number of secondary schools which are already connected to the Web has now reached some 40% of the total and we expect all secondary schools to be connected by 1999. It will afterwards be the turn of the elementary schools and primary schools. At the same time, we have encouraged economic and commercial enterprises to utilize the means of electronic commerce, which now represents a considerable proportion of trade between individuals and countries. We have entrusted a national committee with the task of examining the various aspects of this new and vital issue and to propose the best methods in line with our specifications to ensure our presence in this realm.

We have endorsed the Internet system following a thorough study taking into consideration the potentially harmful uses of the network.

We believe that no technological instrument is inherently good or bad.

We feel that this is a function of the use that people make of it.

The problem arises whenever a new invention appears, be it satellite dishes, such as is the case today, or television and cinema such as was the case yesterday. The negative aspects of modern communications, including the Internet, are a source of concern for the international community, which will eventually succeed no doubt in protecting the majority of the world's Internet users from immoral uses that could jeopardize the security and integrity of societies.

We in Tunisia are relying on the lucidity and maturity of our people. That is why we have, from the beginning, focused our efforts on large-scale education and awareness-building programs. We are also certain that the values and salient traits inherent in our culture and character predispose our citizens to what is good and protect them from deviation and extremism. The Internet, as a modern communication technology, is opening vast horizons of research and science for all the peoples of the world. We see it as a privileged instrument for intercultural communication, and are striving to strengthen our presence and participation in it. In achieving a good understanding of this technology, our educated young people today are capable of making a genuine contribution to this communication revolution.

WT: During the international economic forum in Davos, Tunisia was chosen as a model in the area of human resources. The World Bank estimates that one-third of your population belongs to the middle class and that your economy is growing annually by 5.4%. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that your political system is based on pluralism and economic power and that Tunisia is the first Mediterranean country to have signed a free-trade agreement with the European Union, the West, in general, continues to harbor prejudices against Arab countries. What do you see as the best strategy for countering these mistaken views?

President Ben Ali: The best way to establish and anchor the true image of Tunisia and its society is to stay the course of the comprehensive reform which we have adopted since the Change of November 7, 1987.

We have succeeded, in recent years, in logging a number of gains in the political, economic and social justice fields, both through our constant concern to elicit the Tunisian citizen's participation in decision-making and through our continuing efforts to reconcile economic efficiency and the imperatives of social justice, on the one hand, with modernity and authenticity on the other. This has won us praise from international organizations and specialized agencies known for their objectivity and for the rigor and depth of their analysis.

A large number of highly important landmarks await us in coming years on the path to global development; we shall work to make the best possible use of these to strengthen the country's gains and better present the Tunisian model.

In addition to the political achievements that we intend to use to strengthen pluralism and reinforce the practice of democracy, Tunisia faces economic challenges, namely integration of Tunisia's economy into world economy, especially through the establishment of a free-trade zone with European and Arab countries. To this effect we have begun an ambitious program of comprehensive upgrading aimed at improving business performance with respect to quality and cost containment, developing basic infrastructure and promoting human resources, and adapting laws and regulations to the requirement of the next stage in the Tunisian economy's advancement towards openness, with the completion of the program to dismantle tariffs with the European Union countries and with the Arab countries. This will lead to the creation of a free-trade zone that will include over 450 million.

The dawn of the coming century will also see the completion of social projects, foremost among which is the program to promote disadvantaged areas through the establishment of basic facilities for all built-up areas, followed by the containment of unemployment through increased job creation for university graduates, then by the creation of a larger number of sources of income. Programs have been drawn up to these ends, and we shall strive to carry them out as part of a global vision that takes into consideration the different equilibria-particularly financial-to preserve the country's credibility and remain faithful to its commitments.

Through all these accomplishments we hope that by the turn of the century we will have established a society based on the values of democracy and human rights, a society which is deeply anchored and culturally, well-developed economically and evenly balanced socially.

Regarding the best strategy for eliminating prejudice against Arab countries, we do not believe that there is any one recipe that is valid for all countries. Each country has its own experience and specific features. Our strategy in Tunisia is chiefly to continue being Tunisian, with all that that implies in terms of pride and dignity and at the same time to remain realistic, moderate, tolerant, modern and above all loyal to our national identity. It is this highly diverse aspect of our fabric that constitutes the richness and uniqueness of the Tunisian identity.

It is interesting to see how this combination of influences has shaped the Tunisian personality in great harmony. Tunisians are highly aware of their Tunisian identity, but are at the same time proud of being Arab and Muslim, African and Mediterranean, exchanging with southern Europe the same ideas and goods without complexes or psychological, linguistic or cultural inhibitions.

In this era of globalization, it has become imperative for all parties to cast off prejudices that hinder constructive dialogue; today, each must demonstrate his competence in understanding others and communicating with them without complexes or inhibitions.

WT: When we visited southern Tunisia, we were surprised at the network of barriers that had been set up to hinder desert encroachment. And when we returned to Tunis, we visited the National Center for Environment Technology, which gave us other reasons to respect the Tunisian government's commitment to environmental protection. Would you explain why environmental problems occupy such an important place in your government's programs?

President Ben Ali: Within the framework of our societal project, we see environmental protection as part of a fundamental right of the individual to a worthy life, in addition to his other political, economic and social rights. It is also an essential condition for sustainable development.

Our conviction that the right to a healthy environment is a fundamental human right has led us to concentrate our efforts on improving the population's living environments in the cities and villages, on ensuring the protection of ecosystems and strategic natural resources, and preserving natural equilibria, which alone can guarantee sustainable development and continuing opportunities for coming generations.

To achieve this we have set up a national strategy for environmental protection, developed by a national committee for sustainable development, and have instructed this committee to coordinate among the different players in development so as to adapt economic and social development policy to the imperatives of environment conservation and renewal of natural resources. This committee has based its strategy on a program entitled National Agenda 21, which aims at incorporating environmental considerations into the sectoral and regional development plans.

We believe that true sustainable development is closely related to the democratic process, based both on participation and dialogue and on the involvement of all social parties, namely non-governmental organizations, political parties, professional organizations and the unions. All programs of environmental protection in Tunisia are based on a participatory approach and on promoting the role played by civil society.

We have devoted a considerable share of the country's resource to environmental protection. Between 1992 and 1996, the volume of direct investment in this sector was approximately 580 million US dollars, a figure which is expected to increase three-fold between 1997 and 2001 to reach 1.81 billion US dollars.

Tunisia's experience in environmental protection has won the country admiration and esteem from all the international organizations that work in this sector, and has for a number of countries become an example that is cited.

WT: The decision has been made to declare December 8 a day on which Tunisians celebrate national solidarity. What message would you like to send to the American people regarding solidarity in Tunisia?

President Ben Ali: Solidarity is now a vital value in Tunisian society, a value by which we have given greater scope to the idea of development and that we have put at the service of a noble goal that lies at the very heart of the societal project adopted by the Change, based on our beliefs in the principles of human rights in their comprehensive sense from a concern to provide all Tunisians with the conditions for a worthy life.

In making December 8 a day of national solidarity, we have provided an opportunity to review what has been accomplished in helping vulnerable regions and social categories. It is also a good occasion to further the values of solidarity and mutual help within society, in order to achieve the objectives of the project we have designed.

Faced with the challenge inherent in globalization, we believe that the state has a decisive role to play, particularly in developing countries, to protect social fabric, assist the underprivileged and protect the vulnerable from the factors of exclusion and marginalization.

This difficult task, which is closely related to the individual's right to development and dignity, requires, in addition to action by the state, support from the developed countries, through reinforced cooperation and partnership which make it possible to meet the major challenge of development and to achieve concrete progress and ensure that our achievements are protected from every risk of deterioration and regression.

You are well aware that these concerns are reflected in a number of international charters and declarations, including above all the Universal declaration of Human Rights, the 50th anniversary of which is now being celebrated by the international community.