Tunisia Today
This New African State
Is Working To Gain Stability
in an Area of the World
Plagued by Many Problems
By AHMED BELKHODJA
Fate gave Tunisia a privi- into the official fold, pledged to
leged position, in the center of support the government.
the sea which has nurtured The more serious attack on the
civilization. From the balcony regime was attempted by the ex-
of the Maghreb, Tunisia looks treme nationalists, led by the ex-
both toward Europe and the Secretary of the Neo-Destour,
East. The hospitable coast wel- Salah Ben Youssef. But this abor-
comes both men and ideas tive revolution was crushed in a
few weeks, largely by armed de-
tachments of Neo-Destour Youth.
is also, however, a cape which Ben Youssef was driven into exile
reaches far out into the Medi- to Libya and Egypt and his fac-
terranean, providing shelter tion disappeared from the political
when its waters are troubled scene.
by the storms of men.
-Bourguiba THE MAJOR political problem
NDEED, the Tunisian coast of- in Tunisia today, more than
ftrs an unending arabesque of in Morocco, lies in the Algerian
wild capes and enticing bays. question. Tunis is closer in many
Against an enchanted backlth ways to Algiers than ia Rabat,
of sails, olive trees and vibrant and Tunisia is moreover caught
light, vestiges of Rome, Arab between the exigencies of Algeria
Ribats, Turkish citadels and Span- oroo and Egypt on the east.
ish forts stand outlined, bearing Mmorede has been able to take
witness to the many waves of in- a more detached view, although
vaders which have come to her vitally interested in a settlement,
shores, but when H. E. Mongi Slim, the
For several decades a strong Tunisian Ambassador, speaks for
republican tendency had been ap- the Algerian cause and North
parent in Tunisia. One of its aims nin tity in the United Isu
was realized in 1957 by deposing fos, it is a life-and-death issue
the last Bey of the ruling house of for Tusila. l
Turkish descent. 'The war will go on in Algeria,
This gesture made room for a said Bourguila, "until France ise
republic with a strong executive ready for the idea of Algerian in-
power. The president of the re- dependence."
public, assisted by a cabinet of .HE FRENCH occupied Tunisia
twelve secretaries and three under- H H d
secretaries with cabinet rank, in 1881, having previously oc-c
forms the executive power in Tuni- cupied the neighboring state ofb
sia today. All bills must have the Algeria. From 1881 until 1954,a
final approval of the president France maintained complete colo-:
before becoming laws. nial control over the country's j
domestic as well as external af-t
THE SHAPE of the New Regime fairs.
in Tunisia has been determined Five days after gaining Ide- t
by the political group which re- pendence in 1956, general electionsc
ated it. were held in Tunisia for a Na-t
Its basis is the Neo-Destour tional Constituent Assembly. Onc
Party, led by Habid Bourguiba, April 14, 1956, Bourguiba became
with its 1,600 odd cells, ite uni- Premier of the new nation; onc
formed "Neo-Destour Youth," and July 23, 1956, Tunisia was ad-a
its powerful party directiondThe mitted to the United Nations; ando
intellectual outlook of these young one year later, on July 25, 1957,a
radicals should be defined as ra- the NCA deposed the Bey, pro-
tionalist, non-clerical, republican claimed the nation a republic, andtrr
so it is of no surprise that on elected Bourguiba as its first pres-
July 25, 1957, the Bey was. ousted idTe NCA's primary task is the
in a bloodless revolution and the completion of a new constitution i
nation declared a republic
The religious leaders for their for the republic. Once this is com-
part have been complaisant enough
to waive the Islamic laws against
usury so that Bourguiba was able
to issue a national loan. Their ap-
proval was satisfactory also when
the government abolished polyg-
amy and modified divorce for the
interests of the woman.
GENERALLY speaking, the Neo-,
Destour Party is solidly rooted E
among all classes and especially
among the worker and peasant
groups.
This was not achieved without'
friction - after independence in
1956, the solid, bluff labor leader,
Habib Achour, tired of being an
appendage to a political party,
started his own independent union.
At the other end of the scale,
Ahmed Ben Salah, the young in-
tellectual leader of the UGTT (the
labor union), began to put some
pressure on the government to
carry out a more dogmatically-
socialist program.
But in the end Bourguiba won
Ahmed Ben Salah, and the in-
tellectuals have been silenced and
replaced by more orthodox figures.
Habib Achour led his union back
Tunisian Ahmed Belkhodja
is at the University this year as
the Foreign Student Leader- Tunisia has organized an efficien
ship Project representative, the traffic police march in the 195
Page Eight
As soon as Tunisia achieved independence in 1956, the new government began gathering together
thousands of children from poor families and sent them to a private village where they were fed,
educated and trained in practical skills. These young people today are known as "Bourguiba's children."
pleted and ratified, the NCA will Because it is relying upon In- They also determine the exports
be dissolved and new elections will creased industrialization to raise of agricultural products.
be held for the legislative body the standard of living, the govern- The mineral industries present
established by the constitution. ment is giving special emphasis to a more stable pattern of produc-
the training of technical personnel tion. There is much room for de-
s WEEPING reforms in the Judi- and to higher education, velopment. The most important
cial system have abolished the A new Center for Economic mineral is phosphates.
traditional religious (Sharia) Studies now organizes research on However, with the exception of
courts and i tegrated these tri- economic problems, while two the Djerissa iron mines, where the
bunals with the secular courts into teachers' training colleges (one for high metal content of the ore and
a united judiciary operating on men and one for women) meet the ease of working have favored In-
three levels: courts of primary critical shortage of educators. vestments, mining concerns are
jurisdiction, courts of appeal; and generally under-equipped and in
the High Court. tH OENEThswr- udreupe n
French magistrates will con- THE GOVERNMENT has work- many cases are only exploited in-
tinu o bh mattaeto Tunis ed to modernize and unify the termittently. There are untouched
courts tobeassistoTunisianmnis-existing school systems as well as resources, particularly of iron,
trates in cases involving French to increase the total number of lead and zinc.
citizens. schools. The major unknown factor is
These newly unified courts re- For example, the famous Mos- oil. Prospection has held out some
cognize modern legal codes guar- lem University of Zitouna, which promise. There is enough natural
anteeing freedom of opinion and is older than the 'Azhar' in Egypt, gas in Cap Bon to supply Tunis
of worship, Particularly note- has now become a public univer- for many years to come. All hope
worthy is the Personal Status Code sity, placed under a rector re- is far from being abandoned,
of August 17, 1956, which revolu- sponsible to the Secretary of Edu- despite a certain amount of pes-
tionized the position of women by cation. simism
abolishing polygamy, instituting a Besides the Zitouna University, The mines occupy 14,000 work-
minimum age for marriage, sub- there is now the Institute of High- ers on a permanent basis. They
jecting divorce to court proceed- er Education, with faculties of provide the preponderant share of
Ings, and guaranteeing women's arts, sciences, and law. In Tunis, rail and port traffic.
personal and property rights. also, are located the Administra-
tive College and the National Agri- GOVERNMENT~ action isdiet
cultural College. The percentage of ed towards a rapid intensifica-
the budget used for education, tion of production through the
which was 14 per cent before the improvement of agriculture (mod-
independence, is now 20 per cent. ernization of methods, increase of
A large number of literary and the area of arable land), the de-
sci l re n er f t velopment of fixed capital both
scientific reviews, both in Arabicveomnofixdcptlbh
and in French, are published in public and private, the creation or
andIn renh, re ublshe Inimprovement of energy resources
Tunis, and the city is host to and the equipment of those in-
numerous lect es, theatrical per-dtriehich not only satis
local demand but can export part
bitions. of their production and, finally,
A.vigorous school of Tunisian the organization of foreign trade
art has already produced painters with a view to making the quality
like Amar Farhat, Jellel Hen Ab- of Tunisian products better known
dallah, Moses Levy and Hatim and to expanding export markets.
Elmekki. Many writers and artists In order to attain these aims,
Smake their home on the heights the public investment policy of the
of Sidi Bou Said, a picturesque government is supplemented by
suburb which commands a mag- a private investment policy in the
nificent view of the Mediterra- Tunisian economy.
nean. Public investment programs
amount to many millions of dollars
THE ENTIRE economy of Tuni- each year and are largely devoted
sia revolves essentially upon to the development of agriculture,
its primary production. whereas the expansion of Tunisia's
Agriculture and mines provide industrial resources is largely left
two-thirds of the nation's total to private initiative.
output. Unfortunately, the most Tunisia possesses public, semi-
important source of primary pro- public, and private credit agencies,
duction, agriculture, is extremely granting short, medium, and long-
unstable-in 1952 the wholesale term financing. In this respect,
price for the major agricultural its organization is technically
products, cereals and olives, was adequate and its financial policy,
40 billion francs as against 23 both stable and prudent, can give
billion in 1951. every possible guarantee to foreign
t, well-trained police force. Here These variations determine the capital looking for suitable invest-
57 independence day celebration. rhythm of local economic activity. ments.
THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE
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