National holiday:
Independence Day, 20 March (1956)
Constitution:
1 June 1959; amended 1988, 2002
Legal system:
based on French civil law system and Shari'a law; some judicial
review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session
Suffrage:
20 years of age; universal except for active duty military
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Zine el Abidine BEN ALI (since 7 November
1987)
head of government: Prime Minister Mohamed GHANNOUCHI (since 17
November 1999)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(no term limits); election last held 24 October 2004 (next to be
held October 2009); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: President Zine El Abidine BEN ALI reelected for a
fourth term; percent of vote - Zine El Abidine BEN ALI 94.5%,
Mohamed BOUCHIHA 3.8%, Mohamed Ali HALOUANI 1%
Legislative branch:
bicameral system consists of the Chamber of Deputies or Majlis
al-Nuwaab (189 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
five-year terms) and the Chamber of Advisors (126 seats; 85 members
elected by municipal counselors, deputies, mayors, and professional
associations and trade unions; 41 members are presidential
appointees; members serve six-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Deputies - last held 24 October 2004 (next to
be held October 2009); Chamber of Advisors - last held 3 July 2005
(next to be held July 2011)
election results: Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party -
NA; seats by party - RCD 152, MDS 14, PUP 11, UDU 7, Al-Tajdid 3,
PSL 2; Chamber of Advisors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - RCD 71 (14 trade union seats vacant (boycotted))
Judicial branch:
Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation
Political parties and leaders:
Al-Tajdid Movement [Ali HALOUANI]; Constitutional Democratic Rally
Party (Rassemblement Constitutionnel Democratique) or RCD [President
Zine El Abidine BEN ALI (official ruling party)]; Green Party for
Progress or PVP [Mongi KHAMASSI]; Liberal Social Party or PSL
[Mounir BEJI]; Movement of Socialist Democrats or MDS [Ismail
BOULAHYA]; Popular Unity Party or PUP [Mohamed BOUCHIHA];
Progressive Democratic Party [Nejib CHEBBI]; Unionist Democratic
Union or UDU [Ahmed INOUBLI]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
18 October Group [collective leadership]; Democratic Forum for
Labor and Liberties or FDTL [Mustapha Ben JAFAAR]; Tunisian League
for Human Rights or LTDH [Mokhtar TRIFI]; note - the Islamic
fundamentalist party, Al Nahda (Renaissance), is outlawed
International organization participation:
ABEDA, ACCT, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BSEC (observer), FAO, G-77,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, MONUC,
NAM, OAPEC (suspended), OAS (observer), OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE
(partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNWTO, UPU, WCO,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO