President Beji Caid Essebsi's ill health formed part of a busy 24 hours in Tunisian news. AFP
President Beji Caid Essebsi's ill health formed part of a busy 24 hours in Tunisian news. AFP
President Beji Caid Essebsi's ill health formed part of a busy 24 hours in Tunisian news. AFP
President Beji Caid Essebsi's ill health formed part of a busy 24 hours in Tunisian news. AFP

Tunisia's party politics may be fractious, but its democracy remains robust


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Tunisians gearing up for last weekend woke up to two dramatic pieces of news on Thursday. The first, that two suicide bombers had targeted police in the capital, Tunis, killing at least one and wounding several civilians. The second that the nation's 92-year-old president was gravely ill – some initial reports even said that he was dead.

In years past, the order of those two reports would have been reversed. If Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had suddenly been taken ill, a contained terror attack would have paled in comparison to the political turmoil potentially unleashed by an ailing ruler.

However, the Tunisia of 2019 is not the Tunisia of 2009, when an authoritarian president suddenly falling ill would have been a national emergency – nor indeed, the Tunisia of 1987, when the illness of then president Habib Bourguiba precipitated a coup. Now the country is an emerging democracy, with multiple centres of power.

A dark day for the nation, then, but one that showed both the strengths and weaknesses of its political system.

Strengths, because the terror attack was almost shrugged off – both by citizens, who sounded defiant and swiftly ensured the capital returned to normal, and by politicians determined that the attack would not impact the vital tourist season.

Weaknesses, because it highlighted a division between the president and the prime minister that has dominated the last year, precipitated a current crisis and created uncertainty in the run-up to an election this winter that will chart a course to a new generation of political leaders.

On social media, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed took care to say he had visited President Beji Caid Essebsi and wished him a speedy recovery. A perfunctory expression of sympathy under normal circumstances, the message took on extra meaning because a clash between the two men has set off the most serious political crisis for the secular wing of Tunisia's politics since the revolution.

It was Mr Essebsi who, last summer, publicly withdrew his support for Mr Chahed and called on him to resign. He did not, and when the Islamist Ennahda party backed Mr Chahed, Mr Essebsi ended his governing Nidaa Tounes party's coalition with it, an alliance that had guided Tunisian politics for four years.

Since then, political jockeying has split Nidaa Tounes.

Elections at the end of this year will be vital because they will represent the passing of the political torch to a new generation

Elections at the end of this year – parliamentary in October and presidential the following month – will be vital because they will represent the passing of the political torch to a new generation. Mr Essebsi said in April that he does not intend to run for a second term and, while his party has not yet chosen an alternative presidential candidate, his sudden illness has almost definitely ended the uncertainty.

Who will claim that political mantle is tearing apart the secular wing of Tunisian politics. Nidaa Tounes is still split from a disastrous attempt in April to elect a new leader. On one side is a faction loyal to Mr Essebsi, which elected his son Hafedh Caid Essebsi as leader. On the other is a faction that elected a politician named Sofian Toubel. Months on, there is no sign of reconciliation between the two sides, even as the elections draw nearer.

It is very much the Essebsis who provoked the split: the president, in his attempt to muscle through the candidature of his son; his son, thanks to his imperious manner and deep unpopularity within the party; and together, via their dispute with Mr Chahed, a former member of Nidaa Tounes.

Mr Chahed, just a few weeks ago, was elected head of a new political party, Tahya Tounes. If both wings of Nidaa Tounes also field candidates, the secular vote could be split three ways.

Could Ennahda, still the largest party in the parliament – and, crucially, unified – come through the middle to claim the presidency? Perhaps. That would be the shortest route to the office, which Ennahda has never yet contested.

However, this may not happen, owing to other considerations.

At eight years old, Tunisia's transition to democracy is still recent. There has only ever been one presidential election. For Ennahda, which is still viewed with deep suspicion by secular voters, there is a concern that an outright victory could invite the kind of concerted political opposition that eventually toppled the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. On the other hand, facing the electorate and losing might invite the kind of retribution that the group suffered for years under Mr Ben Ali.

The quiet path is, therefore, the one Ennahda is most likely to take: seek to stage a strong showing in the parliamentary elections, which take place first, then throw its weight behind a presidential candidate, guaranteeing influence in the next government. Who it may back is one other calculation in Tunisia's rapidly shifting politics.

News of the attacks and the president's illness breaking in the same 24 hours has created ripples of concern, in Tunisia and abroad. But it also demonstrates that the nation's political system, while fledgling, is relatively robust. It is party politics that is going through significant upheaval, the wounds it is now exhibiting largely self inflicted, by a political class determined to maintain a hereditary role for itself.

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

6 UNDERGROUND

Director: Michael Bay

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco

2.5 / 5 stars

Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok

UAE fixtures Mon Nov 20, v China; Tue Nov 21, v Thailand; Thu Nov 23, v Nepal; Fri Nov 24, v Hong Kong; Sun Nov 26, v Malaysia; Mon Nov 27, Final

(The winners will progress to the Global Qualifier)

The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5

Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder /  3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,000rpm / 354hp @ 5,400rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,600rpm / 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km

T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER

Results

UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets

Hong Kong beat Canada by 32 runs

Friday fixtures

10am, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – Ireland v Jersey

7.30pm, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Canada v Oman

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)

Medicus AI

Started: 2016

Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh

Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai

Sector: Health Tech

Staff: 119

Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)

 

Abu Dhabi GP weekend schedule

Friday

First practice, 1pm 
Second practice, 5pm

Saturday

Final practice, 2pm
Qualifying, 5pm

Sunday

Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps), 5.10pm

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20ASI%20(formerly%20DigestAI)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Quddus%20Pativada%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20education%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243%20million-plus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GSV%20Ventures%2C%20Character%2C%20Mark%20Cuban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The results of the first round are as follows:

Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent

Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent

Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent

Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent

Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent

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  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills