In
1920, the Liberal Constitutional Party (the Destour) was formed by
Tunisian nationalists. The breakaway new Destour, created in 1934,
eventually became the driving force behind Tunisian independence.
After a long struggle, Tunisia finally 
won its independence on March
20, 1956.
Independence:
from AD 1956
The policies of independent Tunisia are to a large
extent the policies of Bourguiba himself. Overall this means a
cautious and pragmatic approach which proves very successful.
Relations with France remain on the whole good, in spite of a
few periods of intense crisis. These include the bombing of a
Tunisian village in 1958 by French planes (the French claiming the
right to pursue Algerian rebels across the border); a brief and
costly war in 1961, initiated by Bourguiba to end the agreed presence
of a French garrison in the port of Bizerte; and the suspension of
French aid in 1964-6 in response to Bourguiba's nationalizing of all
land held by foreigners.
Bourguiba is also skilful in maintaining good relations
with other western powers, and for the most part Tunisia under his
rule has a respected role in the Arab world - though his inclination
to take a less hard line than others on the issue of Israel creates
hostility. At various times Tunis is host to the headquarters of the
Arab League (moving from Cairo in 1979) and of the PLO (refugees from
Beirut in 1982).
Internally his attitude is equally pragmatic,
with a policy of non-doctrinaire socialism. In the 1960s he takes for
a while a more rigid line, of state control and agricultural
cooperatives, but when these measures fail he rapidly returns to a
more moderate approach.
In 1975 the national assembly appoints Bourguiba
president for life but by the late 1980s, when he has been head of
state and chief executive for thirty years, he is becoming noticeably
erratic in his conduct of affairs. In November 1987 his prime
minister, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, removes him from office and takes
his place as president.
Democracy has not been part of
Bourguiba's Tunisia. Brought to independence by a single party
(Neo-Destour), it has remained a one-party state - though by 1987 the
name of the single ruling party is the RCD (Constitutional Democratic
Assembly).
Ben Ali holds elections, in 1989, soon after his
assumption of power. Six opposition parties participate on this
occasion, but they might as well have saved themselves the trouble.
Ben Ali is elected president with 99% of the vote. His party, the
RCD, wins all 141 seats in the national assembly.
During the
1990s Tunisia makes satisfactory economic progress, but its
international image is increasingly tarnished by civil rights abuses.
A new electoral law, introduced before the 1994 elections, adds
nineteen seats to the assembly - reserving them for candidates of
opposition parties. But this token gesture does little to mask the
reality of Tunisian politics.
Ben
Ali is the only presidential candidate in 1994 (winning this time
99.9% of the votes cast) and the RCD wins all 144 non-reserved
seats.
More significant, and the reason for international
protests, is the arrest on flimsy charges of leaders of opposition
factions, followed by long spells in prison. One of the main targets
of government hostility is Nahda, an outlawed Islamic party. Feared
by the ruling elite as much as the FIS in Algeria, Nahda is part of
the wider emergence of Islam as a renewed political force in the late
20th
century.
... 
About Tunisia 
