November 11, 2008. Copyright 2008, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Tunisian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali seeking to extend his mandate
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, November 11, Graphic News:  He has been called "Ben a Vie" because Tunisia's President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali is expected to rule his country for life. The North African leader faces elections in 2009 but there is little indication that anyone can prevent him from securing a fifth term.

At the last presidential election in 2004 Ben Ali again claimed an unfeasible 99.9 percent of the votes -- a reflection less on the quality of his opposition than on his total dominance of Tunisia, where his government has been accused of suppressing free speech and violating human rights to maintain his vice-like grip on power. Human rights groups say dozens languish in jails for daring to oppose their leader.

Naturally, Ben Ali prefers to emphasise Tunisia's impressive progress, sustained growth and thriving tourist industry. True, he has kept his pledge to continue the modernisation begun by his predecessor Habib Bourguiba, but he has reneged on one crucial promise: in 2002 he rewrote the constitution to allow him to seek more than three terms as president.

Born in September 1936, Ben Ali was a soldier before being appointed prime minister in 1987 and having President Bourguiba declared medically unfit so that he could replace him. Critics say he has maintained a facade of democracy with regular elections but in reality opponents stand little chance of ousting his Constitutional Democratic Rally.

Ben Ali has been a staunch ally of the West's "War on Terror", extending his powers to clamp down on suspected Islamic terrorists. He has also acted to restrict the spread of religious ideas and symbols, and has been accused of undermining religious freedom with a ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in public.
/ENDS